Recalibrating Conceptualizations of "Cultures of Peace": A Cross-National Study of Nonviolent Attitudes (original) (raw)
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Culture of peace: An alternative definition and its measurement
Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 2004
Culture of peace is an exciting and important political proposal, but the extent to which it might be a coherent and fruitful concept in the realm of social sciences is arguable. In our view, there are three basic problems for the development of empirical studies on culture of peace. First, the concept takes for granted that culture is static and coherent, but current approaches to culture emphasize that culture is rather changeable and contradictory. Second, the concept takes for granted that peace must be defined according to Western political principles, such as state sovereignty. Third, the concept characterizes violence and war as basically similar phenomena. With these problems in mind, we suggest an alternative definition of culture of peace as a changeable script. This script involves lower levels of endorsement of three sets of values that are related to the main definitional activities of war: strategic disposal of individuals, logistics that subordinate wealth to honor, and rhetoric of injustice as intelligence. We empirically tested this hypothesis by ascertaining the extent to which individuals valued society more than family, wealth more than honor, and life more than justice, and examining the ways in which their choices related to their tolerance for war as measured by the Peace Test (McAlister, 2000). Psychology is a peculiar science in that its concepts do not always result from an empirical, inductive search. In some cases, concepts arise from a moral or political necessity, an a priori point of departure that has no necessary connections with empirical evidence. A conspicuous example of this is the popular concept of "emotional intelligence." Salovey and Mayer originally suggested the concept
Toward a Global Ethic of Nonviolence
Peace and Conflict Studies (PCS) investigates the reasons for and outcomes of largeand small-scale conflicts, as well as the preconditions for peace. PCS allows one to examine the reasons for and prevention of wars, as well as the nature of violence, including social oppression, discrimination and marginalisation, or what Johan Galtung and others call 'structural violence' . Through the rigorous analysis of peace and conflict, one can also learn peacemaking strategies. PCS accordingly analyses individual and collective violent and non-violent behaviours as well as the structural mechanisms underlying social conflicts in order to understand and transform those processes that might lead to a more peaceful planet. In this way, the field is explicitly value-oriented, since it assumes and provides evidence for the claim that peace is (almost always) preferable to war, and the job of peace researchers is not merely to understand the dynamics of war and peace, but also actively to promote the latter.
Non violent , 2023
This paper argues that nonviolent action has proven successful throughout history. According to a 2011 study by Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan, nonviolent resistance activities were more than twice as successful as their violent equivalents between 1900 and 2006. Chenoweth and Stephan concluded that nonviolence is a more successful strategy for social change than violence (Chenoweth & Stephan, 2011). These initiatives have had extraordinary achievements, even in Iran, the Palestinian Territories, the Philippines, and Burma, attracting tremendous backing from citizens who renounce their support for regimes. The methodology used for this research will be sourced from Gene Sharpe's 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action and The Success of Nonviolent Civil Resistance by Erica Chenoweth and Stephan, among other sources.
Culture of Peace: Sociostructural Dimensions, Cultural Values, and Emotional Climate
Journal of Social Issues, 2007
This article examines how objective measures of sociostructural dimensions of a culture of peace are related to subjective national values, attitudes, and emotional climate. National scores on objective measures of four sociostructural dimensions were correlated with national means from a number of cultural value data sets and national indexes of emotional climate. Liberal Development was congruently associated with egalitarian, individualist values, a low negative emotional climate, and less willingness to fight in a new war. By contrast, Violent Inequality was associated with lower harmony values and less valuing of intellectual autonomy. State Use of Violent Means was strongly associated with low harmony values. Nurturance was associated with horizontal individualism, tolerance, cooperative values, and positive emotional climate. The conclusion discusses how the construction of a culture of peace must be based on values as well as objective sociocultural factors.
Enhancing Nonviolent Footprints for the Culture of Peace and Nonviolence
International Journal of Peace Education and Development, 2018
In a world where individuals have to negotiate a variety of conflicts in their daily lives-right from the individual level to societal level, it is critical that we strive to develop our conflict competencies. Enhancing our conflict competencies will help us negotiate the complexities in different conflict situations that we may encounter. Nurturing appropriate skills and abilities to analyze the root causes of conflicts and developing capabilities to address these will help us to ensure lasting resolution of these conflicts. Developing conflict competencies is not a one-time training process; instead it is an ongoing process requiring constant additions to skills and experiences. This chapter will explore the different dimensions of conflict competencies, its role and importance in contemporary society.
Assessing the Basis for a Culture of Peace in Contemporary Societies
Journal of Peace Research, 2004
The culture of peace promoted by the United Nations may provide a set of global norms that are needed for a peaceful world. However, the bases for the culture that is advocated rest on a liberal conception rather than empirical data. Does empirical evidence support the coherence of these bases, or are there flaws in how the culture of peace is conceived? In an attempt to answer this question, objective indicators were selected to represent each of the presumed bases for a culture of peace. These indicators were correlated with one another, and a factor analysis examined the extent to which the data cohered and could be accounted for by a single 'peacefulness' factor. The results suggest that four different peace factors need to be distinguished. These are correlated with different indices of peace and may be used to assess the relative peacefulness of different nation-states. The data, together with a consideration of the literature on peaceful cultures, suggest that a global culture of peace may require the development of an additional base that is not mentioned in the United Nations' program of action.
THE ROAD TO THE CULTURE OF NONVIOLENCE
, 91-8072289315 "Just as one must learn the art of killing in the training for violence, so one must learn the art of dying in the training for nonviolence. "-Gandhi MK Brutal Physical Strength or Determined Mental Strength or Spirited Soul force… Which is the strong one? The pursuance of truth for the above question will lead to the culture of nonviolence. The road to the culture of nonviolence is different from establishing other cultures. Its success lies in empowering learners to internalize and apply it rather than memorizing it and writing it down on an answer sheet. It should inculcate the spirit of nonviolence in the minds of the learners. Ahimsa goes beyond non-killing and harming other beings, and has many dimensions. The boundaries of non-violence have widened; Inexhaustible; tenderly indulgent. Ahimsa is taught in all religions; they are often described as individualistic disciplines. There is a need to move from individual purity to collectivity. There is an imperative to move from individual liberation to social liberation. This requires a proper understanding of non-violence; even more important is the transmission of that understanding to the next generation. In recent past, MK Gandhi had the audacity to undertake such an attempt. He had the soul power to preciously imbibe the power of non-violence. Gandhi's role in taking non-violence to a new dimension was immense. A lifelong messenger of nonviolence, he had given us his life as a message. The lesson of non-violence cannot be learned without Gandhi. Hence this article is an attempt to absorb nonviolence in Gandhian Perspective and to analysis how non-violence can be transformed from an individual moral code to a collective cultural code.
EMERGING HORIZON OF NONVIOLENCE
Asian Horizons, 2021
The theological discourse and praxis of nonviolence has a range of expressions. At the same time, there are some predominant descriptions of nonviolence which narrow our view or even obstruct our praxis. These have critical implications for our approach to spirituality, conflict, and policy. In this essay, I unpack an emerging horizon of nonviolence from a theological perspective. This includes recognizing nonviolence as the positive reverence for dignity and life and thus, also the constant effort to avoid dehumanization and participation in other types of violence. I begin by describing a robust sense of nonviolence arising from global consultations with persons in violent conflict zones over the past five years or so. Next, I explain the different characteristics with some examples and analysis. I will demonstrate the value of this more robust approach to nonviolence drawing on some prominent voices in the Asian context. Finally, I identify some critical implications for the Catholic Church and religious institutions, government policy, and educational institutions.