POLS IR Seminars Series
Complex Transactionalism and Peacemaking
Roger MacGinty
Durham University
4 February 2026, h.14:30
SPS Seminar Room (Conservatorio)
Department of Social and Political Science
Via Conservatorio 7, Milano
Abstract
It is increasingly common to see media and policy references to peacemaking as "transactional". Recent peace talks and deals that emphasize trade, minerals, oil and reconstruction profits reinforce the idea that peacemaking is moving from an era of a liberal peace to an era of transactional peace. But does this stand up to scrutiny? This session seeks to unpack the extent to which the label 'transactional' is accurate. To a large extent, peace has always had transactional elements - although they now seem more obvious. Accounts of peacemaking as transactional overlook the pragmatist literature that seeks to contextualise transactionalism and stress how actors and actions are con-constitutive.
This seminar is part of the POLS International Relations (IRS) Seminar Series
(Organizing Committee: Andrea Locatelli, Martina Cocchi, Edoardo Landoni,Chiara Minora, Nourhan Mohammed)
For an overview of the PhD Political Studies Seminar Series, click HERE
It is increasingly common to see media and policy references to peacemaking as "transactional". Recent peace talks and deals that emphasize trade, minerals, oil and reconstruction profits reinforce the idea that peacemaking is moving from an era of a liberal peace to an era of transactional peace. But does this stand up to scrutiny? This session seeks to unpack the extent to which the label 'transactional' is accurate. To a large extent, peace has always had transactional elements - although they now seem more obvious. Accounts of peacemaking as transactional overlook the pragmatist literature that seeks to contextualise transactionalism and stress how actors and actions are con-constitutive.
