Violence, peace, and peace research

J Galtung

Abstract

In the present paper we shall be using the word 'peace' very many times. Few words are so often used and abused - perhaps, it seems, because 'peace' serves as a means of obtainingverbal consensus-it is hard to be all-out against peace.l Thus, when efforts are made to plead almost any kind of policy - say technical assistance, increased trade, tourism, new forms of education, irrigation, industrialization, etc. - then it is often asserted that that policy, in addition to other merits, will also serve the cause of peace. This is done regardless of how tenuous the relation has been in the past or how dubious the theory justifying this as a reasonable expectation for the future. Such difficulties are avoided by excluding any reference to data from the past or to theories about the future.

Relevance to scouting

Scouting’s mission includes peace education, intercultural dialogue, and conflict resolution training. But this critical study provides a perspective regarding  “liberal peace” narratives that might ignore power, culture, or structural injustice. Scouting can use the insights to reflect on how peace is framed in their curricula, avoiding large-scale “peace slogans” and instead embedding critical, locally rooted dialogic practices. This enables Scouting to promote peace that is meaningful, contextual, and socially just.