A Contemplative Sociologist Looks at War

This paper aims to dereify the concept of war by presenting it through the first-person perspective of a direct participant in the war in Ukraine (Artem Chekh) and an external observer, the paper's author. The study will conduct an explicit interpretation of the lived experiences of both participants and observers of the war. These experiences will be explored through the domains of the lived space, lived time, and lived body. The interpretative work will be approached from a contemplative perspective, drawing on phenomenological inspirations. Contemplation will be based on the explicitation of the narrations of the direct participants of the war, utilizing phenomenological understanding and artistic interpretations (poetry and visual art).