ABSTRACT

Methodologically, Peace Research has long been dominated by words, numbers, and sometimes images. This article suggests also integrating Video Data Analysis (VDA) into the analytical toolbox of Peace Research so as to explore the potential of the millions of videos of relevance for the study of peace and conflict that can be found online and beyond. The article introduces VDA and shows how the method can be applied to analyse micro-dynamics of phenomena such as violence, conflict, mediation, and peacebuilding. Videos enable researchers to observe events that no or few researchers would otherwise have access to from their armchairs, integrating the attentiveness to interaction and atmosphere that only ethnographers would have. While losing the ethnographer’s benefit of ‘being there’, videos allow researchers to replay events in slow motion and thus capture subtle dynamics of timing, interaction, and affect. The article discusses the epistemological challenges, ethical dilemmas, and future promises of applying VDA in Peace Research and provides concrete examples of how the observation of affects reflected in body postures and facial expressions, as well as the social bonds reflected in the rhythm and content of interaction, can be of value in peace research.

摘要

在方法论上，和平研究长期以来一直以文字、数字，有时甚至是图像为主。本文还建议将视频数据分析 (VDA) 整合到和平研究的分析工具箱中，以便探索可以在网上和其他地方找到的数百万与和平与冲突研究相关的视频的潜力。本文介绍了 VDA，并展示了如何将该方法应用于分析暴力、冲突、调解和建设和平等现象的微观动态。视频使研究人员能够观察到没有或很少有研究人员可以从他们的扶手椅上接触到的事件，整合了只有人种学家才有的对互动和氛围的关注。在失去民族志学家“身临其境”的好处的同时，视频允许研究人员以慢动作重放事件，从而捕捉时间、交互和影响的微妙动态。文章讨论了在和平研究中应用 VDA 的认识论挑战、伦理困境和未来前景，并提供了具体示例，说明对影响的观察如何反映在身体姿势和面部表情中，以及社会纽带如何反映在节奏和内容中互动，在和平研究中可能具有价值。