Project description
A human-centric approach to global affairs
The importance of empathy – seeing things as others do – is gaining new ground in international relations. However, little is known about how empathy can be used to both alleviate and transform or perpetuate insecurity. The EU-funded EIS project will fill this knowledge gap. Applying an interdisciplinary approach and combining international relations theory, history, and political psychology, the project will explore the multifaceted nature of empathy. It will compare two episodes from the Cold War (Modernisation and the Vietnam War) with more recent cases of refugee flows to Europe and the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings will shed light on how empathy connects with ideas of power, politics and security.
Objective
This MSCA research project ‘Empathy and International Security' (EIS) uses an interdisciplinary approach combining international relations theory, history, and political psychology to ask: How can a more nuanced understanding of empathy inform more human-centric approaches to security? Despite growing awareness of the importance of empathy in international relations, no research has yet examined the tensions inherent in the concept, or how it can be used to both alleviate and transform, or perpetuate or entrench, insecurity. EIS addresses this gap. To answer this question, I examine the multifaceted nature of empathy through four distinct case studies. I use two interconnected episodes from the Cold War (Modernization and Vietnam war) to reveal that empathy is not a novel concept, but one whose meaning and application has changed over time. I will then turn to the case of recent refugee flows into Europe and the response to the global pandemic to analyze empathy's significance to contemporary security challenges and political leadership. Using a qualitative research methodology that draws on archival materials, discourse analysis and elite interviews, I compare and contrast these cases to demonstrate how empathy connects with ideas of power, interests, politics, security and gender as part of an original conceptual framework and typology. EIS combines the expertise at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) and the Centre for War Studies (CWS) on human-centric approaches to international security, with my experience as a qualitative scholar on empathy in IR, and my fifteen years experience in international security policy and politics. It will combine academic research and theory development, with an applied and policy-relevant approach to make an innovative contribution to growing debates about the importance of empathy in creating more sustainable solutions to contemporary security challenges, in line with the priorities of Horizon 2020.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences political sciences political policies
- social sciences psychology social psychology
- humanities history and archaeology history contemporary history
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
5230 Odense M
Denmark
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.