The role of social science in conflict situations.

Mueller-Hirth, Natascha

Abstract

Conflict and violence are a major threat to the health of populations. In the last decade, violent conflict has increased significantly and has produced ever greater challenges to the health and well-being of people affected by conflict, which now often include varied demographics and a combination of harms and suffering. Considering diverse literatures from medical sociology, medical anthropology, and peace and conflict studies, this chapter advances three arguments. One, violence in conflict settings takes multiple forms, which must be considered to understand the health and well-being impacts of conflict. Two, social science contributions make explicit local understandings, lived experiences, and people's own constructions of health across different conflict settings, which challenge a universalizing biomedical model and can inform context-appropriate interventions. Three, while health can contribute to conflict resolution and peacebuilding, healthcare systems can also be weaponized, reinforcing structural forms of violence and existing tensions. It can be argued that the aim of public health interventions in conflict settings should be the well-being of all sectors of the population and social scientists are singularly well placed to examine what well-being constitutes for people in their contexts and how it can be supported.

Citation

MUELLER-HIRTH, N. 2023. The role of social science in conflict situations. In Liamputtong, P. (ed.) Handbook of social sciences and global public health. Cham: Springer [online], pages 1353-1369. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25110-8_94

• Online Publication Date: Sep 10, 2023
• Publication Date: Sep 10, 2023
• Deposit Date: Dec 19, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 3, 2025
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 1353-1369
• Book Title: Handbook of social sciences and global public health
• ISBN: 9783031251092
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25110-8_94
• Keywords: Conflict; Violence; Peace; Structural violence; Suffering; Trauma; Displacement
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2626003