Observing Conflict Escalation in World Society : Ukraine's Maidan and Mali's Breakup

How do conflicts escalate? This is one of the major questions in conflict research. To offer further answers, Richard Bösch follows a tripartite agenda: First, he develops a constructivist methodology for the study of conflict escalation embedded in a Luhmannian systems theoretical world society perspective. Bösch argues that conflicts can be observed as social systems and he looks at the process of conflict escalation by analysing communication. Second, this analysis offers two cases studies: the Maidan protests in Ukraine 2013-2014 and Mali's crisis 2010-2012. Third, it gives impulses on how systems theoretical research can further on be beneficial for Peace and Conflict Studies. Contents Prologue Acknowledgements Summary Index of Abbreviations Part I: Theoretical Foundations Chapter 1. Introduction: A Sneak Peek at the Subject Matter Chapter 2. Conflict Escalation as a Perspective in Social Sciences Chapter 3. Conflict Escalation: Developing a Systems Theoretical Framework Chapter 4. Conflict Escalation: Of Methods and Methodologies Part II: Case Studies Preliminaries Chapter 5. Observing a Developing Conflict System: The Maidan Protests in Ukraine 2013/2014 Chapter 6. Sliding into Armed Conflict: Observing Mali’s Crisis 2010-2012 Part III: Synthesis Chapter 7. Reviewing the Case Studies Chapter 8. Concluding Remarks Appendix Bibliography Epilogue How do conflicts escalate? This is one of the major questions in conflict research. To offer further answers, Richard Bösch follows a tripartite agenda: First, he develops a constructivist methodology for the study of conflict escalation embedded in a Luhmannian systems theoretical world society perspective. Bösch argues that conflicts can be observed as social systems and he looks at the process of conflict escalation by analysing communication. Second, this analysis offers two case studies: the Maidan protests in Ukraine 2013-2014 and Mali's crisis 2010-2012. Third, it gives insights on how systems theoretical research can be beneficial for Peace and Conflict Studies.