POLS 4210

Learning About Peace

Violence has been on the rise recently, therefore, studying about peace is extremely

necessary. This course has provided the students fundamental knowledge about peace, which can

be useful even outside of the course to promote peace. The essay will talk about three concepts

that were the most important to me. Beginning with how old concepts of peace and violence were

broken, and new ones were introduced. Then, it will mention the importance of engaging with

local people, and how including their opinion can influence the success of peacebuilding. Lastly,

what we learned about peace education will be discussed, and what are the best ways to teach

people concepts of peace.

What people know about peace and violence is usually based on common knowledge.

However, this is not enough and many aspects are missing, which are important in making peace

and ending violence. Something that has been present in most class discussions is the many aspects

of violence and peace, and how there is more to it than what is usually assumed. Galtung’s (1985)

concept of positive and negative peace was mentioned throughout most readings and topics in the

course. Peace is, commonly, only understood as the absence of violence, which is not only a

negative aspect, but also a passive one. It assumes peace only needs people to stop fighting,

ignoring the necessity to build peace through positive actions like cooperation and integration

(Galtung, 1985, p. 145). The understanding of structural violence was also extremely important,

as it shows that the structures of our society are embedded in violence, even if we can’t see it

(Galtung, 1985, p. 146). Breaking with this view was extremely important to students, because it

creates a foundation to better understand the course and other peace concepts. For example, non-

violence consists mainly of peaceful actions, like strikes, civil disobedience, and protests
(Chenoweth & Lewis), that can be used to fight both structural and direct violence. Now, this

concept of positive peace and structural violence feels like such a basic notion, but it was unknown

before the course by most students. Without it, I would not be able to advocate and promote peace

in the way I currently feel capable to.

Another important lesson draws attention to the importance of taking into consideration a

local approach to peace. Generally, peacebuilding, activism takes place in a macro or international

level, without taking into consideration the local people’s opinion or values. It also fails to

empower and enable locals to build peace on their own. As discussed in class, in post-conflict

societies, elections can often be completely organized by international organizations. After the

organizations leave the country, the locals do not have the knowledge to make the elections on

their own. Thus, it is fundamental to work closely with the individual so that peace can be

effectively propagated. The case of GALANG stood out to me the most because it showed the

impact and importance of empowering people and engaging with them (Lim, 2011). Instead of

simply creating an organization that tried to change the laws, call international attention, or general

things, GALANG developed a model to actively work with the people they were trying to help.

This knowledge of engaging and empowering the locals made possible to identify problems in

other activisms, such as with International Romani Women’s Network (IRWN) (Izsak, 2008). In

this case, the activism was made mostly through lobby and collaboration with governments, also,

the objectives and planned activities were too general. This lack of more detailed planning and

engagement with the individuals hindered the organization’s effectiveness. Meanwhile, although

GALANG worked mostly with the individuals, it resulted in macro changes as well, as the locals

were empowered to fight for their rights. Therefore, although both approaches, micro and macro,

are important to peace, the individual approach needs more recognition, as it can affect not only

the individuals, but also the system or macro level.

generalized violence (p. 17). Thus, educating people about what peace is, why it is important, how

to help, and other notions is extremely necessary. Most readings, explicitly or not, helped to better

understand in what ways we can advocate for peace, deconstructing wrong concepts and educating

about better ones. Journalism, for example, can affect peace, but usually negatively because it

distorts the reality of conflicts and of peace (Zohar, 2012, p. 99). To solve this issue, guest speaker

Shelley Robison mentioned how we can give voice to locals, and only adopt a facilitator role.

GALANG’s successful method to educate and empower locals was already mentioned. Their

model would be considered an informal type of education, which happens through everyday life

experiences or actively engagement. Also, peace education can happen in a formal context, related

to a more traditional form of education with professors teaching in classrooms. However, Balm

and Dokhanchi (2014) demonstrated that combining both types of education can achieve a better

result in the context of peace. The students learned in a classroom about the Bosnian War, but they

also experienced it by visiting the country and talking to the locals. This way, by using both

approaches together, it is possible to both critically think and analyse a situation, and to connect

emotionally with it to create empathy.

As violence and intolerance is rising, it becomes extremely important to study about peace.

This course helped to deconstruct old views and introduce different concepts related to peace that

are more inclusive, positive peace and structural violence are the best examples. It was also

essential to learn the necessity to include a local approach and to work with individuals actively.

If we want to build peace, a bottom-up approach is important, as it builds a foundation for peace

on individuals. These concepts that we learned are complemented by the study of peace education.

We learned about how to communicate and to discuss about peace. Also, the concepts of formal

and informal education were introduced, as well as the combination of both of them. This is
particularly important to university students, since the traditional education context can lack

empathy. The method implemented by Balm and Dokhanchi (2014) was a great example of how

this can be applied. Also, through class activities like the blanket exercise, the students could

experience this combination. Overall, the course taught essential ideas to promote peace, not only

helping to build a foundation, but also advanced knowledge to critically study the subject.
References

Chenoweth, E. & Lewis, A. O. (2013). Unpacking nonviolent campaigns: Introducing the NAVCO

2.0 Dataset. Journal of Peace Research, 50(3), 415-423.

Bahm, F. K. & Dokhanchi, K. (2014). Teaching War and Peace in Bosnia: The Liberal Arts and

the Uses of Critical Empathy. Journal for the Study of Peace and Conflict, January 1, 2014,

83-99.

Galtung, J. (1985). Twenty-Five Years of Peace Research: Ten Challenges and Some Responses.

Journal of Peace Research, 22(2), 141-158.

Harris, M. I. (2004). Peace Education Theory. Journal of Peace Education, 1(1), 5-20.

Izsak, R. (2008). The European Romani Women's Movement: International Roma Women's

Network. In Batliwala, S. (Ed.) Changing their World 1st Edition. Association for Women's

Rights in Development.

Lim, A. (2011). GALANG: A movement in the Making for the Rights of Poor LBTs in the

Philippines. In Batliwala, S. (Ed.) Changing Their World 2nd Edition. Association for

Women's Rights in Development.

Zohar, B. (2012). Misrepresentation of the Bosnian War by Western Media. Journal of

Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology, 3(2), 97-110.