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WHY WAR? conference cycle

Several experts in contemporary history reflect on the existence of war in modern times

Why war? And what war? How have the different forms of armed conflict evolved? To what extent are today’s wars distorted reflections of those of the past? How many forms of war are there? And in short, what is a war?

War is the largest black hole for human understanding. Despite it being imagined as clean, surgical and orderly, in reality it is dirty, chaotic and atrocious. In the conflicts that occurred throughout the 20th century and currently in the 21st century, for every eight civilian victims there has been one military victim. War is increasingly a fight against civilians, against non-combatants. It is a giant spectacle of collective violence, especially occupation and civil wars: forced displacements, population exchanges, escapes, exiles, post-war purges, systems of concentration camps and forced labour, anti-partisan wars, brutish wars, etc.

Many experts in contemporary history, some of whom have forever changed the way the history of war is written today, participate in this lecture series which aims to tackle the phenomenon of conflict from different perspectives: minorities, memory, women… and provide understanding about this very complex phenomenon.

  • 9 April. Why war?, with Javier Rodrigo (UAB)

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  • 16 April. War today, with Miguel Alonso (UNED)

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  • 30 April. Civil war in capitalist modernity, with David Alegre (UAB)

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  • 7 May. Racialized and anti-minority war, with Carolina García Sanz (University of Seville)

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  • 14 May. War against women, with Laura Muñoz Encinar (UB)

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  • 21 May. War of memories, with Xosé Manuel Núñez Seixas (University of Santiago de Compostela)

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Coordinated activity organised in collaboration with the UAB and the VOICES Network, Violence, Identity and Conflict in 20th Century Spain. It is part of the activities program of the exhibition Why war?.

Sala Moragues.
El Born CCM

Activity in Catalan and Spanish.

Tickets

Tickets can be purchased by clicking on the ticket sales button or at the centre's ticket offices. You can also book in advance by e-mail at reserveselbornccm@eicub.net or
 by calling
93 256 68 50 (from Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 3 pm). Free entrance

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WHY WAR? | Lecture by Javier Rodrigo
Tuesday April 9, 6:30 p.m

This conference will address the long duration of the phenomenon of war in the contemporary world, starting from some of its regularities: its summation, the changes in its forms and deployments, and its link with the phenomena of collective violence in the 20th century.

Javier Rodrigo (Autonomous University of Barcelona). An accredited professor of history and ICREA Acadèmia researcher. He is also the author of more than ten books on contemporary civil wars, fascism and collective violence. His latest work is ‘Generalissimo. The Lives of Francisco Franco, 1892-2020′ (Galaxia Gutenberg, 2022).

WHY WAR TODAY? | Lecture by Miguel Alonso
Tuesday April 16, 6:30 p.m

The lecture “Why War Today?” will address the new forms of war in the 21st century, from the reasons behind the proliferation of armed conflicts after the end of the Cold War to how war technology, globalisation and social networks have influenced the impact of war on our societies.

Miguel Alonso Ibarra is a Permanent Lecturer at the National Distance Education University. His main lines of research are the socio-cultural history of war, mass violence, genocide and fascism. He has published several articles and is currently preparing his next book, entitled ‘Crusaders without Glory. The War of Franco’s Soldiers (1936-39)’. He is co-editor of the Revista Universitaria de Historia Militar (University Journal of Military History).

CIVIL WAR | Lecture by David Alegre
Tuesday, April 30, 6:30 p.m

Understanding the contemporary world means addressing civil wars in all their complexity and grasping the reasons behind their outbreak, as well as the many individual and collective, local and international agendas that converge in their nature and development. Our aim with this conference is to provide the tools to understand what makes them take place in certain places and what makes them such a determining factor in shaping the world we live in.

David Alegre Lorenz (Autonomous University of Barcelona). His scientific, teaching and educational work has focused on studies of fascism, the social and cultural history of war, violence and community reconstructions in post-war environments.

RACIALIZED AND ANTI-MINORITY WAR | Lecture by Carolina García Sanz
Tuesday May 7, 6:30 p.m

An approach to violence to the point of extermination, exercised on racialized populations in 20th century wars – especially the world wars. Its victims experience an unequal degree of recognition and reparation due to the geopolitical use of memory and the persistence of discriminatory stigmas.

Carolina García Sanz is a lecturer in the Department of Contemporary History at the University of Seville. Her main lines of research revolve around neutrality in the Mediterranean and British imperialist practices in the context of the First World War, the history of racism and biopolitical studies in Spain.

WAR AGAINST WOMEN | Lecture by Laura Muñoz Encinar
Tuesday May 14, 6:30 p.m

This conference will address the study of gender-specific sexualised violence in contemporary war and post-conflict scenarios.

Laura Muñoz-Alzinar is a lecturer in the Department of History and Archaeology at the University of Barcelona and co-director of the State Programme for Scientific Research and Knowledge Generation project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the State Research Agency: DE-FENCING “Beyond the Wire Fences: A Comparative Archaeology of Franco’s Concentration Camps”. A specialist in the Archaeology of Contemporary Conflict and Forensic Anthropology, her research focuses on the repressive processes of 20th century wars in Spain and Europe.

WAR OF MEMORIES | Lecture by Xosé Manuel Núñez Seixas
Tuesday May 21, 6:30 p.m

The conference will focus on the modalities and evolution of public remembrance of war, looking back from ancient to contemporary times, with a special emphasis on the dynamics of memory after World War II in a comparative perspective.

Xosé M. Núñez Seixas is a Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Santiago de Compostela. He specialises in national and territorial identities, as well as cultural history and the memory of violence. Latest books: ‘Back to Stalingrad’ (Barcelona, 2022) and ‘Beyond Folklore? The Franco Regime and Ethnoterritorial Diversity in Spain’ (London, 2024).