Work · Sociology & Social Theory
Violence, Peace, and Peace Research
Article in the Journal of Peace Research: violence is present whenever people are kept from realising their potential; besides personal violence there is structural violence built into unequal social structures, so peace means the absence of both.
Introduction
Galtung’s article appeared in 1969 in the Journal of Peace Research, which he had founded. It proposes a broad definition of violence: violence is present when human beings are influenced so that their actual somatic and mental realisations are below their potential realisations. Besides personal violence, with an identifiable actor, there is structural violence, built into social structures as unequal power and life chances. Peace therefore has two sides: negative peace, the absence of personal violence, and positive peace, the absence of structural violence, or social justice. The article became one of the most cited texts of peace research and carried the concept of structural violence into sociology, medicine and development studies.
Connections
Taken up in
- Peace by Peaceful Means: Peace and Conflict, Development and Civilization1996 · Johan Galtung
More works by Johan Galtung
Sources: Wikidata
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