A better mutual understanding?

‘Making music together does contribute to peacebuilding. This idea drives various initiatives to bring together musicians from conflict areas and have them rehearse and perform together. For example, young Israeli and Palestinians playing in an orchestra, or an ensemble composed of young musicians from different parts of Iraq. The expectation is that in order to succeed musically, everyone has to listen to one another, which, in turn, will lead to a better mutual understanding. Learning to see things from the perspective of others will reduce the tendency to regard and treat the other as the enemy.’

‘This is a promising thought, of course, but until now not much research has been done on the specific effects of peace inititiatives like these.’ Leiden University researchers Gisela Hirschmann (Political Science) and Niels van Doesum (Social and Organisational Psychology) address this gap with their project Playing with the enemy. The impact of collaborative musical performance as arts-based peacebuilding.

"‘Making music together contributes to peacebuilding."

Insights and approaches from political science and psychology

‘Do particular conditions positively affect mutual perceptions? Do the results of musical peace building initiatives spill over from the participants to the broader society? What is the impact of the intensity and the duration of an inititative on the musicians’ behaviour and beliefs? Dr. Hirschmann and dr. Van Doesum tackle these questions in an innovative and interdisciplinary project, combining insights and approaches from both political science and experimental psychology.