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Negative and Positive Peace

Page history last edited by Stephanie Knox 13 years, 7 months ago

Negative and Positive: Peace Learning Objectives

After this section, the participant should be able to meet the following objectives:

  •  Define the key terms of negative peace, positive peace, structural violence and cultural violence
  • Discuss the relevance of these terms to peace education and the broader field of peace studies 



Guiding Questions 

As you read this section, consider the following questions: 

  • What is peace? What elements should be present in order for peace to occur? What elements should be absent for peace to occur?
  • Are there different kinds of peace? Try to describe them. 
  • Is conflict always negative? Can you think of instances when conflict might be positive? Can you think of an example in your life where a conflict resulted in a positive outcome?

 

Introduction 

Is peace the absence of war, or is it more than that?

So often peace is equated with the absence of war. But think about a country today that is not at war. Would you describe that country as being peaceful? Are there still problems of physical violence? Are there issues of social inequality, injustice, or discrimination? Most likely, theanswer is yes. These are the issues that renowned peace scholar Johan Galtung was trying to address when he developed the concepts of negative and positive peace.

 

Johan Galtung is one of the main theorists in peace and conflict studies, and introduced the concepts of negative peace, positive peace, and structural violence, and many other key concepts to the peace and conflict field. Galtung has written numerous books and journal publications, and is the founder of Transcend International, a network of organizations working in peace research, education, action and media. Galtung's ideas have been highly influential in the field of peace education.

 

Definitions

Negative peace is the absence of violence. In order to create negative peace, we must look for ways to reduce and eliminate violence. A cease-fire would be an example of an action for negative peace.

 

Positive peaceis the presence of social justice and equality, and the absence of structural or indirect violence. It is characterized by the presence of harmonious social relations and the "integration of human society" (Galtung, 1964). In order to further understand positive peace, it is important to understand structural violence. 

 

 Structural violence or indirect violence is the result of social structures or institutions that prevent people from meeting their basic needs and accessing their basic human rights. Assefa describes this as "killing people without the use of the gun" (1993: 3). For example, hunger can be the result of structural violence, as economic and social systems may prevent people from being able to access adequate food supplies, particularly in societies where there are rich people with excess food supplies, and especially when public resources are diverted to other areas, such as military spending.  Another example would be institutionalized racism or sexism.

 

Cultural violence refers to any aspect of culture which can be used to justify structural violence. Language, religion, ideology, and science are examples of parts of a culture that may mask structural violence, and even make it seem natural or right. 

 

It is important to note that peace, whether negative or positive, does not mean the absence of conflict. Conflict itself is not necessarily a negative occurrence, as through conflict, positive change and transformation may occur. What is important is that conflict is handled nonviolently and constructively. Turay and English (2008) express this idea clearly by saying, "conflict is a fact of life and a reality for all of us. How we deal with it is how we embody our understanding of peace and justice."

 

Therefore, peace education must distinguish between these different aspects of peace, and include both aspects in order to educate for a holistic conception of peace. In peace education, disarmament education and nonviolent conflict resolution education are forms of education for negative peace, as these form of education seek to directly end or prevent violence and the use of force and weapons. However, disarmament education also goes beyond negative peace by promoting values for positive peace, and by exploring areas of structural violence relating to militarism.  Education for human rights, multiculturalism, social justice, ecological sustainability, and inner peace are examples of peace education for positive peace.

 

Questions for comprehension and reflection 

  • What is the relevance of the theories of negative peace, positive peace and structural violence to peace education? 
  • Try to think of examples of negative peace and positive peace in your context. What local initiatives have there been to promote negative peace? Positive peace?
  •  Think of some examples of structural violence in your local context. Look at a local newspaper and see if there are any examples of structural violence, either locally, nationally or internationally. 

 

References

Assefa, H. (1993). Peace and reconciliation as a paradigm: A philosophy of peace and its implications on conflict, governance, and economic growth in Africa.

     Nairobi, Kenya: Nairobi Peace Initiative.

 

Galtung, Johan. 1964. An Editorial. Journal of Peace Research 1(1), p. 1-4. 

 

Turay, T.M., & English, L.M. (2008). Towards a global culture of peace: A transformative model of peace education. Journal of Transformative Education, 6(4), p.

     286-301. Available at: http://jtd.sagepub.com/content/6/4/286.full.pdf+html

Additional Resources

http://www.activeforpeace.org/no/fred/Positive_Negative_Peace.pdf

http://www.transcend.org/ - Johan Galtung's network for peace and development 

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