We’re looking this week at the political role of courage. The current, dreadful conflict in Ukraine provides numerous extraordinary examples of courage: of civilians who stand up to Russian tanks; of Ukraine’s president, who remains in Kyiv despite manifest personal danger; of anti-war protesters in Russia, who take to the streets though they know they are likely to be arrested and perhaps beaten. 

Courage can take many forms. So we ask what exactly it is, and what roles it can play – in times of conflict and in the context of peaceful democracy.

But first, we’ll focus in on one kind of clearly courageous action in politics – the action of local peace communities in conflict-ridden societies. We’ll consider what these local peace communities are, where they can be found, and when they succeed.

To explore courage and peace communities, we are joined by two PhD students here in the UCL Department of Political Science. 

• Dušan Rebolj studies political theory and is a member of the Political Theory research cluster. His dissertation project applies the tools of political theory to the topic of political – especially democratic – courage.
• Jennifer Hodge is a student of international relations who belongs to the Conflict and Change research cluster. She has created a new dataset on peace movements around the world and is using it to analyse their dynamics.

UCL’s Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy offers a uniquely stimulating environment for the study of all fields of politics, including international relations, political theory, human rights, public policy-making and administration. The Department is recognised for its world-class research and policy impact, ranking among the top departments in the UK on both the 2021 Research Excellence Framework and the latest Guardian rankings.