Leiden University Student Repository

Hanson, Tom (2019)

Noticing Conflict: The Importance of Attention in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Master thesis | International Relations (MA)

Conflicts do not naturally attract the interest of policy makers nor do they naturally garner international recognition and attention. It is therefore essential to understand, if conflicts are ignored, how inattention manifests itself in inaction, what are the consequences of inattention and why does inattention exist. This thesis will seek to answer these questions within the primary confines of the conflict(s) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It will be argued that attention is a commodity predominantly distributed by policymakers and media organisations who may choose to pay attention or not. The consequences of inattention, such as increased levels of severity and violence, can therefore be attributed to those purposefully ignoring conflict.

DRC

Attention

Conflict

Media

Policymaker

Author

Hanson, Tom

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Global Conflict in the Modern Era

Supervisors

Duyvesteyn, Isabelle

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en