University of Edinburgh

Graduate Student, Politics and International Relations

PhD Student

School of Social and Political Studies

Thesis Title: Making Space for Peace - The Use of GIS in UN Peace Operations

About

Broadly, my research centres on the role of space in peace operations. I am interested in the question of how space is understood in relation to peace and how this spatial knowledge is produced and managed. The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS), a tool which generates this spatial knowledge, has grown significantly in peace operations over the past ten years. GIS is a spatial mapping technology which allows for the storage, modelling, analysis and representation of geographical data of the post-conflict host country. GIS can display and overlay different themes, showing for example the country’s demographics, resource distribution or topography. As such, maps are produced in order to optimize the mission’s strategic planning capabilities, enabling the evaluation, management and development of the country. However, this mapping process or spatial knowledge production which delimits the possibility of peace operations is a much neglected aspect within the Peace and Conflict Studies literature. It is this gap my thesis seeks to fill. The project focuses on UN Peace Operations’ use and management of GIS technology, engaging with three different sites: the UN Cartographic Section as policy, planning and management site; the UN Logistics Base as training and preparation site; and UN GIS Units in the field (I have so far undertaken pilot field work in Timor-Leste but am looking to engage with another field mission –TBD). Through this research I seek to contribute to the peace literature highlighting how GIS is used to a) produce spatial knowledge; b) reveal how this knowledge is practiced and c) illuminate its role in articulating the spatial possibility of peace.

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