UNDERSTANDING PEACE

SECULAR VIEWS / CONCEPTS OF PEACE AND VIOLENCE

●1625: According to Hugo Grotius, Peace as

merely the absence of war or direct violence

(Dobrosielsky, 1987)

●Hence the simplest and widespread

understanding of peace was that of absence of

death and destruction as a result of war and

physical/direct violence…an initial point of

departure in peace research (Thee, 1982)

●1966: A noted French thinker, Raymond Aron

defined peace narrowly as a condition of “more

or less lasting suspension of violent modes of

rivalry between political units” (Barash, 1999)

Late 1960’s: Emergence of alternative view.

Attention started to shift from direct (physical)

violence to indirect (structural) violence.

●People suffer from violence and even death as a

result of certain structures built into society’s

social, economic, and political structures (Hicks,

1987).

●Structural violence also led to death and

suffering because of the conditions that

resulted from it: extreme poverty, starvation,

avoidable diseases, discrimination against

minority groups, and denial of human rights.

●Johan Galtung: Structural violence occurs when

the wealth of rich nations, groups or individuals is

based on the labor and the essential resources

drawn from nations, groups and individuals who, as

a consequence are required to live diminished lives

of deprivation (Monez, 1973).

●Hence, Johan Galtung explains that peace is the

absence of violence, not only personal or direct but

also structural or indirect.

●The manifestations of structural violence are the

highly uneven distribution of wealth and resources

as well as the uneven distribution of power to

decide over the distribution of said resources.

●Peace is both the absence of

personal/direct violence and

presence of social justice

(Galtung, 1995)

●“Peace is not simply a lack of war

or nonviolence; peace means the

eradication of all facets of

injustice.” (Cheng and Kurtz,

1998)

●Negative peace refers to the ABSENCE of

war or physical/direct violence.

●Positive peace refers to the PRESENCE of

just and non-exploitative relationships, as

well as human and ecological well-being,

such that the root causes of conflict are

diminished.

●Note: Peace with nature is considered the

foundation for “positive peace” (Mische, 1987)

●Betty Reardon: defined

violence as “humanly

inflicted harm

FORMS OF VIOLENCE

●Direct Violence: Birgit Brock-Utne (1989) says

that direct violence can be classified as

ORGANIZED or UNORGANIZED.

●Forms: wife battering, rape, child abuse, street

crime, war…

●Indirect Violence: Can either shorten life span

or reduce quality of life

●Features – economic structures that lead to

unequal chances (e.g., gender and race bias in

the work place); repression of freedom of

speech and of choice (e.g., censorship);

repression of one’s fulfillment

In 2021, the top 10 percent of

Americans held nearly 70 percent of

U.S. wealth, up from about 61

percent at the end of 1989. The

share held by the next 40 percent fell

correspondingly over that period.

The bottom 50 percent (roughly

sixty-three million families) owned

about 2.5 percent of wealth In the Philippines inequality stems

from several structural factors. Higher

education and job skills development

remain out of reach for many.

Unequal access to college, and social

norms that leave women at a

disadvantage, also contribute to

persistent ineq●A system of privilege created by institutions

within an economy

●What institutions? Law, business practices, and

government policies, education, health care,

and the media. These are powerful socializing

agents that tell us what we can achieve within

society.

● Inequality is structural when policies keep

some groups of people from obtaining the

resources to better their lives. Such policies

create advantages for some and disadvantages

EDUCATION

●Structural inequality exists where poor children

must attend public schools while rich children

can attend private schools.

●Students in low-income neighborhoods often

receive an education that is inferior to that of

students in wealthier areas. Research has found

that this accounts for 37% of the reason for

lower math scores.for others.uality.in 2021.

TYPES PF STRUCTURAL INEQUALITIES

EDUCATION

●Structural inequality exists where poor children

must attend public schools while rich children

can attend private schools.

●Students in low-income neighborhoods often

receive an education that is inferior to that of

students in wealthier areas. Research has found

that this accounts for 37% of the reason for

lower math scores.

HOUSING

●Municipal leaders can create systemic

segregation through zoning. They zone for

amenities like green space and large lots in

wealthy White areas. They then allow

apartment complexes and halfway houses in

lower-income areas. Over time, these decisions

create neighborhoods on the "wrong side of

the HEALTH CARE

●Healthcare inequality is correlated with income

inequality. Those with good jobs have the best

access to health care. America has a healthcare

system that relies on private health insurance.tracks."

RACE

● Racial structural inequality has its roots in U.S.

slavery. That system legally allowed Black

Americans to be treated as non-human

property. Even though slavery was outlawed in

1865, Jim Crow laws enforced segregation in

the South until 1964.GENDER

●Research shows that there are many structural

gender biases in the workplace. For example,

studies have found that managers give women

fewer challenging roles and less training

compared with men. Female managers aren't

given as many high-level responsibilities

needed for promotions. Men are more likely to

be given leadership roles in both

male-dominated fields and female-dominated MEDIA

●In Citizens United v. FEC, the U.S. Supreme Court

gave corporations the same rights as people. It

protected corporate campaign contributions as a

form of free speech. This decision allowed wealthy

business owners greater access than poorer

individuals to political advertising.

fields.