In order to maintain peace - a state of well-being of all life on earth – individual efforts based on contributions from diverse academic disciplines are essential. How do structures of peace get enmeshed into structures of war? How do we remember the past in order not to repeat the same mistakes?
RENKEI PAX (Peace, Arts, Culture and Science = PACS = PAX = Peace) working group was developed by Ritsumeikan University in Japan and the University of Liverpool in the UK to address these questions through the perspectives of different academic disciplines such as peace, art, culture and science. The working group held the RENKEI PAX School between 14 and 23 September 2016 in Kyoto with “Enslaving the Mind” as the main theme with entry into the structure of war, violence and their outcomes as its focus, applying these precepts to contemporary theatres of conflict. RENKEI PAX Workshop was held between 17 and 26 August 2017 in Liverpool. It focused on “Emancipating the Mind”, tracing the history, memory and legacies of the transatlantic slave-trade and efforts to overcome similar structural manifestations in contemporary society. In total 35 early career researchers from RENKEI member universities participated.
