Barbara Magalhaes Teixeira

Main Research Areas 

• peace and conflict studies 
• critical political economy 
• environment and climate change
• decolonial approaches and alternatives to development

Current Research

My PhD project is at the intersect between peace and conflict studies, critical political economy, and environment and climate change. The project looks at how natural resources and the environment can serve not only as causes for conflict, but as catalysts for peace. I make use of both quantitative and qualitative methods in my investigation, and collect my own data through document analysis and interviews. My main argument in the thesis is that in light of environmental and climate change, it is necessary to build peace that is positive not only to humans but to the planet as well. In different academic articles, I explore issues of the negotiation of natural resources in peace agreements and the duration of post-conflict peace; the process from signing a peace agreement and building sustainable peace after natural resources conflicts; how to promote sustainable development in post-conflict countries and care for the environment simultaneously; and critical approaches on creating synergy between development, the environment, and peace from a Global South perspective. 

Current Teaching

I am currently the co-convenor for three courses at the bachelor program in Peace and Conflict Studies: Diplomacy, Negotiation and Mediation , The Environment in Peace and Conflict, and Peace in the 21st Century: Critical Debates on Violence, Justice, and Peace. I also supervise student theses at the bachelor's program in Political Science for the course Conflict and Cooperation in International Politics.