4 PhD Positions in the Institute for History at the University of Leiden

The PhD candidates will become part of a research team on international coalitions for peace in the era of decolonization (1918-1970), led by dr. Carolien Stolte. The positions are fully funded under the ERC Starting Grant scheme (project RECONPAX, 2 positions) and the NWO VIDI scheme (project “Peace Palms”, two positions). The expected starting date is 1 September 2024.

How did peace movements act upon the interlinked processes of decolonization and the Cold War? And how did these processes, in turn, impact the ability of different peace movements to come together in large international organizations for peace? This project studies attempts to build large international coalitions for peace in the period 1918-1970. It departs from the assumption that, while peace movements reached out to each other in pursuit of shared goals, they did not necessarily share common methods and ideas. Attempts to include organizations from the decolonizing world into existing international bodies brought different understandings of peace work to the surface.

This project brings historical depth to an issue of continuing relevance to the international order. It challenges the focus on the Cold War in relevant literatures as the primary factor in the development of international peace organizations. It does so in two ways: by taking a longue durée perspective that incorporates precedents set by peace movements after the First World War; and by turning the lens on the long decolonization process rather than on superpower competition.

The project hypothesizes that the challenges posed by decolonization and the end of empire were the dominant drivers of success and failure in building international coalitions for peace.