About the award winner and motivation
In the world we live in, the Hartmann Foundation believes that it is important to stimulate the work for peace and conflict resolution, and with the 2024 award of both the Hartmann Prize and the Diploma Prize to researchers in these fields, the Foundation wants to draw attention to this.
Isabel Bramsen is currently an associate professor at the Department of Political Science at Lund University and is the Director of Peace and Conflict Studies and also employed as a mediator at the Centre for Conflict Resolution. She has published more than 30 academic articles and books, including a Danish Introduction to International Conflict Resolution.
Isabel Bramsen has dealt with peace and conflict in a wide range of contexts and is a prolific communicator who is often seen in the media when, for example, peace negotiations are broadcast around the world or in connection with the award of the Nobel Peace Prize. Bramsen has been chairman of the Council for International Conflict Resolution (RIKO), is a member of the Nordic Women Mediators and is chairman of the board of PRIS (Peace Research Sweden).
Denmark does not have a strong research environment in peace research. In this context, Isabel Bramsen has continuously worked to establish a peace research centre in Denmark and already in 2014 she got the idea for a master's specialisation in international conflict resolution at the University of Copenhagen, which she helped to build up together with, among others, Ole Wæver.
In terms of research, she has studied both the mechanisms of conflict and mediation, paving the way for an analytical approach through empirical, microsociological analyses, where relationships and emotional aspects are included in the understanding of peace negotiations, right down to how people are placed in the room where the peace negotiations take place. It is in line with the work of others to describe, or criticize, who is present in peace negotiations and who is left out. But Bramsen has taken this work further, not only presenting analyses but also adding a new methodological approach presented in her latest book, The Micro-Sociology of Peace and Conflict, from 2023.
Read more about Isabel Bramsen on her personal page
Read more about the Hartmann Foundation on their website: www.hartmannfonden.dk
