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Prince Duah Agyei: Disputants are critical entities in understanding and transforming latent intractable conflicts around the world

Tampere University
LocationKalevantie 4, Tampere
City centre campus, Main building, lecture hall D11 and remote connection.
Date27.8.2024 12.00–16.00 (UTC+3)
Entrance feeFree of charge
Prince Duah Ageyi wearing a blue suit jacket in a half-length photo.
Photo: Jonne Renvall/Tampere University
As Europe and the world face what could be the greatest security challenges since the fall of the Berlin Wall, including the war between Israel and Hamas, seemingly latent intractable communal violence on the fringes of everyday life risks fading into perpetual oblivion unnoticed by researchers and the international community. In his doctoral dissertation, Master of Social Sciences Prince Duah Agyei examines the reasons behind the intractability of latent communal violence and proposes novel and practical approaches for their transformation.

Using phenomenologically generated data and focusing on the Nkonya–Alavanyo conflict in Ghana as an example of everyday violent conflict that has defied all attempts at resolution, Agyei’s dissertation offers a comprehensive understanding of why intractable conflicts remain insoluble from the perspective of those living through them (disputants).

The study concludes that the Nkonya–Alavanyo conflict remains unresolved because of mutually conditioned accusations from both parties, each inspired by their versions of truth. Additionally, judicial attempts to resolve the conflict have been ineffective because the resulting judgments are subject to multiple interpretations, leading to divergent viewpoints. The research further demonstrates that previous attempts to resolve the conflict have become part of the problem rather than the solution, contributing to the conflict instead of transforming it.

Consequently, the study suggests rethinking conflict resolution strategies by moving towards a constructive transformation that prioritizes feelings of justice and reduces violence. It also advocates for an emancipatory shift from the local turn in peacebuilding to a “local‒local” turn. 

“Such an emancipatory shift will, given the extraordinary degree of mistrust of mediators and resolution efforts, help to ensure a sense of local ownership, provide some legitimacy to the process, and increase the chances that the results are acceptable and durable,” says Agyei.

Ultimately, by offering a new theoretical and methodological understanding of the Nkonya-Alavanyo conflict and practical approaches for its transformation, Agyei’s dissertation provides a novel reference point for students, researchers, and peacebuilding practitioners working on latent intractable conflicts around the world.

Doctoral Researcher Prince Duah Agyei holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts and Political Science and a Master of Social Science sdegree in Peace and Conflict Research from the University of Ghana and Tampere University, respectively. Prince has active interest in the intersectionality between peace, conflict, (in)security and democracy in Africa and Europe.

Public defence on Tuesday 27 August 

M.Soc.Sc. Prince Duah Agyei’s doctoral dissertation in the field of social science titled A Tale of Two Maps and Two Truths: Explaining the intractability and transformation of the Nkonya-Alavanyo conflict in Ghana will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Social Sciences,  Tampere University, at 12.00 on Tuesday 27 August 2024. The venue is auditorium D11 of Päätalo, (address:  Kalevantie 4, Tampere). The Opponent will be Professor Emeritus Andrew Williams, University of St. Andrews, Scotland. The Custos will be Professor Tarja Väyrynen, Tampere University, Finland.

The dissertation is available online

The public defence can be followed via a remote connection.