GENERALIZATIONS ABOUT THE

ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY OF WAR AND PEACE

WAR

1. Anthropologists have concentrated on warfare in prehistoric and "primitive" societies, that is, in societies which are pre-state (prior to civilization) and non-state (bands, tribes, chiefdoms).

2. Anthropologists have been divided into two schools of thought over whether "primitives" are warlike or peaceful, or even whether human nature in general is warlike or peaceful.

3. Recently, indigenous and other societies are no longer viewed as pristine isolates, but significantly influenced by the political economy of larger systems (regional, national, international, world).

4. More attention is being given to contemporary hot spots such as Bosnia, Burma, Colombia, Guatemala, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka.

5. Under the influence of postmodernism more attention is also being given to variation, dynamic processes, everyday experience, multiple actors and voices, politics, etc.

6. Much work is still needed to develop more useful definitions of war and classifications of the types of aggression and war.

PEACE

1. The terms negative peace and positive peace are unfortunate and biased, but they do reflect two schools of thought entrenched in war studies and peace studies.

2. Nonviolence and peace have been grossly neglected, perhaps in part because they are less conspicuous or dramatic and just taken for granted. However, peace is not rare, it is just rarely studied, although that is starting to change in anthropology.

3. Nonviolence and peace on the one hand, and war and other forms of violence on the other, are not necessarily mutually exclusive, rather they may coexist in the same society as alternative approaches to conflict and its resolution.

4. Studying only violence and war can lead to a distorted view human nature, human and cultural evolution, the human condition, culture, society, and reality.

5. Anthropology on the one hand and war studies and peace studies on the other are mutually relevant.

6. Adequate protection and advancement of human rights, including for greater economic and social justice, would go a long way toward promoting a more peaceful world.