NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE CONCEPTS OF PEACE IN PEACE STUDIES

Definition of peace
- peace is the absence of war

+ peace is the presence of human rights including economic and social justice, equality, and freedom, social cooperation and harmony, in addition to the absence of war and of indirect institutionalized violence (structural)

Definition of Security
- Security is usually considered to encompass the defense of at least three things: national territory from foreign invasion and occupation, strategic raw materials and economic markets, and the nation's social and political values (Barnaby, pp. 42, 210)

+ "True security rests on a supportive and sustainable ecological base, on spiritual as well as material well-being, on trust and reliance on one's neighbors, on justice and understanding in a disarmed world." (Barnaby, p. 212).*

Primary Foci of Peace Studies
- direct physical violence as well as national and international security, stability, and order

+ structural violence and aspects of nonviolence, peace, and rights at all levels: individual, group, society, region, nation, and global (including intra- and inter- at the first five levels).

Common Themes Explored
- regional and national conflicts, history of arms control, nuclear weapons and war, alternative security systems, etc.

+ the causes and consequences of war and of other forms of violence (e.g., structural), nonviolent conflict management and resolution, human rights including economic and social justice, rights, peace, and environmental movements

Principle Working Assumptions
- war a natural and inevitable expression of human nature
- a knowledge of the causes and functions of war will help reduce the frequency and intensity of war as well as find alternatives for conflict resolution which lead to a more peaceful world

+ peace a natural and inevitable expression of human nature
+ abuses of human rights including economic and social in justice are considered to be the underlying causes of much of violence (including structural) and war, thus an exclusive focus on direct violence and war detracts attention from many of the underlying problems and issues of peace

* Barnaby, Frank, ed., 1988, The Gaia Peace Atlas, NY: Doubleday.