COURSE

GUIDE

PCR 211
EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

Course Team Dr. S. A. Faleti (Course Writer) – University of

Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo state
Dr. R. O. Olaniyi (Course Editor) – University of
Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State
Iroye Samuel Opeyemi PhD (Head of Department)
– NOUN
Mrs. Adebowale Alade. PhD (Course Reviewer) –
University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State.

NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

PCR211 COURSE GUIDE

© 2022 by NOUN Press

National Open University of Nigeria
Headquarters
University Village
Plot 91, Cadastral Zone
Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway
Jabi, Abuja

Lagos Office
14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way
Victoria Island, Lagos

e-mail: [email protected]
URL: www.nou.edu.ng

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, in any

form or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher.

First Printed 2011

Reviewed January 2022

ISBN: 978-058-471-4

ii
PCR211 COURSE GUIDE

CONTENTS

Introduction…………………………………………………….. iv
Course Aims……………………………………………………. iv
Course Objectives………………………………………………. iv
Working Through this Course ……………………….…….…... v
Course Materials …………………..………………………..….. v
Study Units ……………………………………………….…….. v
Textbooks and References ………………………………..…….. vi
Assessment ……………………………………………………… vi
Tutor-Marked Assignments (TMA) …………………………….. vi
Final Examination and Grading ……………………………….… vii
Course Marking Scheme ………………………………………... vii
Course Overview/Presentation Schedule …………………….…. vii
How to Get the Most from This Course ……………………..….. viii
Facilitators/Tutors and Tutorials ………………………………… viii
Summary ………………………………………………………… ix

iii
PCR211 COURSE GUIDE

Introduction
Welcome to PCR211: Education for Peace

PCR211 is a three-unit course that has minimum duration of one

semester.

It is suitable for all students of Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution.

The course consists of twenty units and a course Guide. The course has
been developed to create deeper understanding of issues related to peace
and peace education.

The course guide tells you briefly what the course is about, what course
materials you will be using, and to work your way through these
materials. It suggests some general guidelines for the amount of time
you are likely to spend on each study unit of the course. It also gives
you some guidance on your Tutor Marked Assignments (TMA). You are
advised to attend the tutorial classes to discuss the problems with the
Tutorials facilitators at the study centre.

Course Aims
The Aims of this course are to:

(i) Introduce you to the nature, types and elements of peace

(ii) Show how various individuals and groups have worked for the
entrenchment of a peaceful world
(iii) Identify the ideals of peace education and the role of the United
Nations in facilitating greater understanding of the nature of
human violence and how the world could best deal with it
collaboratively
(iv) Prescribe useful strategies for dealing with actual and potential
barriers to peace.

Course Objectives
Education for Peace as a course is a crucial precondition for the building
of a peaceful society. Consequently, the overall objectives of this course
include the following:
(1) Introduce the students to the definition, meaning and
characteristics of peace, a peaceful society and factors that
militate against peace.
(2) Describe how certain key factors and practices such as good
governance, the rule of law and accountability contribute to the
building of a peaceful society
(3) Identify the attitudinal, behavioural and institutional obstacles to
the operations of a peaceful society.

iv
PCR211 COURSE GUIDE

(4) Prescribe useful strategies for dealing with actual and potential
barriers to peace
(5) Encourage your active participation in the process of building a
peaceful world through peace education and involvement in
activities that relate to peace.

Working through This Course

To complete this course, you are advised to read the study units, read
recommended books and other materials provided by NOUN. Each unit
contains self-assessment exercises, and at points in the course you are
required to submit assignments for assessment purposes. At the end of
the course, there is a final examination. The course should take you
about twenty weeks to complete. You need to allocate your time in order
to complete the course successfully and on time.

Course Materials
The major components of the course are:
1. Course Guide
2. Study Units
3. Textbooks and References
4. Assignment File

Study Units
There are seventeen study units and a study Guide in this course, and
they are as follows:

Module 1 Education and Peace

Unit 1 Education: Origin and Development

Unit 2 Peace: A Conceptual Overview
Unit 3 Education and Peace
Unit 4 Values and Education for Peace

Module 2 Peace in Human Societies

Unit 1 Peace in Everyday Conversation

Unit 2 Types of Peace
Unit 3 Components of Peace
Unit 4 Dimensions of Peace

Module 3 Peace Classified

Unit 1 Culture of War and Peace
Unit 2 Culture of Peace in Africa
Unit 3 Peace Studies
Unit 4 Concepts Related to Peace

v
PCR211 COURSE GUIDE

Module 4 Activities in Pursuit of Peace

Unit 1 Elements of Peace Operations
Unit 2 Peacekeeping and Peacemaking
Unit 3 Peace Enforcement
Unit 4 Peace Support Operations
Unit 5 Peacebuilding

Module 1 gives a conceptual foundation of education and peace;

Module 2 deals with the factors that have propelled individuals and
groups to work for the entrenchment of peace across the world; while
Module 3 highlights peace classifications into the culture of war and
peace, studies and concepts; Module 4 highlights the key activities that
have sustained peaceful societies across the world in both direct and
indirect ways. Each of the seventeen study unit consists of one week’s
work and includes specific objectives; direction for study, reading
materials and Self-Assessment Exercises. Together with tutor marked
assignments, these exercises will assist you in achieving the stated
learning objectives of the individual units and of the course itself.

Textbooks and References

Some books have been recommended in the course. You SHOULD
consult them for further reading.

Assessment
There are two aspects of the assessment in this course; the tutor-marked
assignments, and a written examination. In doing these assignments, you
are expected to apply knowledge acquired during the course. The
assignment must be submitted to your tutor for formal assessment in
accordance with the deadlines stated in the presentation schedule and
the assignment file. The work that you submit to your tutor for
assessment will count for 30% of your total marks for this course.

Tutor Marked Assignments (TMA)

There is a tutor marked assignment at the end of every unit. You are
required to attempt all the assignments. You will be assessed on all of
them but the best four performances will be used for assessment. Each
of the four selected will come from the four areas covered in the course
namely: education and peace; peace in human societies; peace systems;
and activities in support of peace. Finally, some concrete proposals for
actualizing a peaceful world through deeper knowledge of factors that
could help to eradicate various cultures of violence while promoting a
culture of peace across the world. The assignments carry 10% each.
When you have completed each assignment, send it together with a
(Tutor-Marked Assignment) form to your tutor. Make sure that each

vi
PCR211 COURSE GUIDE

assignment reaches your Tutor on or before the deadline. If for any

reason, you cannot complete your work on time, contact your Tutor
before the assignment is due to discuss the possibility of an extension.

Extension will not be granted after the due date unless under exceptional
circumstances.

Final Examination and Grading

The final examination for PCR211: Education for Peace will be for three
hours duration and will carry 70% percent of the total course grade. The
examination will consist of questions, which reflect the kind of self-
assessment exercises and the tutor marked problems you have
previously encountered. All aspects of the course will be assessed. You
should use the time between completing the last unit, and taking the
examination to revise the entire course. You may find it useful to review
your self-assessment exercises and tutor marked assignments before the
examination.

Course Marking Scheme

The following table lays out how the actual course marking is broken
down.

Assessment Marks
Assignment 1- 4 Four assignments, 30% of course marks.
best three marks of the four count At
Final examination 70% of overall course score
Total 100%

Course Overview/Presentation Schedule

Unit Title of Work Weeks Assessment (End
Activity of Unit)
Course Guide
Module 1 Education and Peace
1 Education: Origin and Development 1 Assignment 1
2 Peace: A Conceptual Overview 1 Assignment 2
3 Education and Peace 1 Assignment 3
4 Values and Education for Peace 1 Assignment 4
Module 2 Peace in Human Societies
1 Peace in Everyday Conversation 1 Assignment 1
2 Types of Peace 1 Assignment 2
3 Components of Peace 1 Assignment 3
4 Dimensions of Peace 1 Assignment 4

vii
PCR211 COURSE GUIDE

Module 3 Peace Classified

1 Culture of War and Peace 1 Assignment 1
2 Culture of Peace in Africa 1 Assignment 2
3 Peace Studies 1 Assignment 3
4 Concepts Related to Peace 1 Assignment 4
Module 4 Activities in Pursuit of Peace
1 Elements of Peace Operations 1 Assignment 1
2 Peacekeeping and Peacemaking 1 Assignment 2
3 Peace Enforcement 1 Assignment 3
4 Peace Support Operations 1 Assignment 4
5 Peacebuilding 1 Assignment 5
Total 17 17

How to Get the Most from This Course

In distance learning, the study units replace the lecturer. The advantage
is that you can read and work through the study materials at your pace,
and at a time and place that suits you best. Think of it as reading the
lecture instead of listening to a lecturer. Just as a lecturer might give you
in-class exercise, your study units provide exercises for you to do at
appropriate times. Each of the study units follows the same format. The
first item is introduction to the subject matter of the unit and how a
particular unit is integrated with other units and the course as a whole.
Next is a set of learning objectives. These objectives, lets you know
what you should be able to do, by the time you have completed the unit.
You should use these objectives to guide your study. When you have
finished the unit, you should go back and check whether you have
achieved the objectives. If you make a habit of doing this, you will
significantly improve your chances of passing the course. Self
Assessment Exercises are inter-spread throughout the units and answers
are given at the end of the course. Working through these tests will help
you to achieve the objectives of the units and prepare you for the
assignments and the examination. You should do each Self Assessment
Exercise as you come across it in the study units. Work through
exercises when you come to them.

Online Facilitation
There are 8 weeks online facilitation provided in support of this course.
You will be notified of the dates, times and location of these facilitation,
together with the name and phone number of your facilitator, as soon as
you login to your learning space. Your facilitator will engage you with
discussion and comment on your assignment, keep a close watch on
your progress and on difficulties you might encounter and provide
assistance to you during the course. You must answer your
assignment well before the due date. They will be marked by your
facilitator and returned to you as soon as possible. Do not hesitate, to

viii
PCR211 COURSE GUIDE

contact your facilitator by telephone or e-mail if you need help. Contact

your facilitator if:
a) You do not understand any part of the assigned readings;
b) You have difficulty with the self-assessment exercise;
c) You have a question or a problem with an assignment, with your
tutor’s comment or with the grading of an assignment.
You should try your best to attend the facilitation. This is the only way
to have face-to-face contact with your facilitator and ask questions
which are answered instantly. You can raise any problem encountered in
the course of your study. To gain the maximum benefit from course
facilitation, prepare a question list before attending them. You will gain
alot from participating actively.

Summary
As a student of the Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution Programme,
you can apply the benefits gained from this course in understanding
your immediate context. All over the world, the main causes of political,
social and economic crises, violence and war that have resulted in a
major disturbance of the peace, death and destruction that took years of
negotiation, peacemaking, peacekeeping and other forms of multilateral
diplomatic efforts to resolve, have often been set off by many acts which
could collectively be described either as the violation of the basic rules
and practices that are in-built into cultures of social or political
governance. It thus becomes clear that this course is essential to be able
to make practical contributions to the building and maintenance of
peace, and the resolution of conflicts through an appreciation of and
commitment to a culture of peace through peace education and peace
studies as recommended under the UNESCO culture of peace
programme.
We wish you success with the course and hope that you will find it both
interesting and useful.

ix
 MAIN
COURSE

CONTENTS PAGE

Module 1 Education and Peace ……………………………… 1

Unit 1 Education: Origin and Development ………………. 1

Unit 2 Peace: A Conceptual Overview…………………..…. 13
Unit 3 Education and Peace ……………………………..…. 25
Unit 4 Values and Education for Peace …………………..…. 35

Module 2 Peace in Human Societies ………………………… 45

Unit 1 Peace in Everyday Conversation…………………..…. 45

Unit 2 Types of Peace ………………………………..…..…. 52
Unit 3 Components of Peace ………………………..…..…. 59
Unit 4 Dimensions of Peace………………..……………..…. 71

Module 3 Peace Classified…………………………………… 81

Unit 1 Culture of War and Peace………………..………..…. 81

Unit 2 Culture of Peace in Africa………………..…………. 90
Unit 3 Peace Studies………………..……………….……..…. 102
Unit 4 Concepts Related to Peace……………….……………. 112

Module 4 Activities in Pursuit of Peace……………………… 120

Unit 1 Elements of Peace Operations………….………..…. 120

Unit 2 Peacekeeping and Peacemaking………………...…. 128
Unit 3 Peace Enforcement………………………………..…. 136
Unit 4 Peacebuilding………………..………………..…..…. 145
PCR211 MODULE 1

MODULE 1 EDUCATION AND PEACE

Unit 1 Education: Origin and Development

Unit 2 Peace: A Conceptual Overview
Unit 3 Education and Peace
Unit 4 Values and Education for Peace

UNIT 1 EDUCATION: ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT

Unit Structure

1.1 Introduction
1.2 Learning Outcomes
1.3 Origin of Education
1.4 Development of Education
1.5 Types of Education
1.5.1 Formal Education
1.5.2 Non-Formal Education
1.5.3 Informal Education
1.6 Learning Theories of Education
1.7 Summary
1.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources
1.9 Possible Answer to Self-Assessment Exercises

1.1 Introduction
Education is very fundamental in human existence. Without it, life will
be static. Thus, it is the wheel on which peacebuilding rotates. The
importance of education is underscored by the critical roles it has played
across the various periods of human history and its current importance
in humankind’s effort to develop and nurture a culture of peace.

1.2 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• The history of education in terms of how it developed over the

ages
• The various ways in which humans educate their members in
culture and survival skills
• The various forms of education.

1
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

1.3 Origin of Education

Education emerged from the struggle of humans for survival and
enlightenment on how to relate correctly with their environment. It may
be formal, non-formal or informal. Informal education refers to the
general social process by which human beings acquire the knowledge
and skills needed to function in their culture. In early civilizations,
citizens were educated informally, usually within the family unit.
Education simply meant learning to live.

Before the invention of reading and writing, people lived in an

environment in which they struggled to survive against natural forces
like animals and other humans. To survive, the first inhabitants of the
earth developed skills that gradually developed into cultural and
educational patterns. For a particular group’s culture to continue into the
future, they have to transmit it, or pass it on, from adults to children. For
this reason, the earliest form of educational involved the sharing of
information about the art of gathering food and providing shelter;
making weapons and other tools; learning language; and acquiring the
values, behavior, and religious rites or practices of a given culture.

Through direct informal education, parents, elders, and priests taught

children the skills and roles they would need when they become adults.
These lessons eventually formed the moral codes that governed the
behavior of these children as well as adults themselves. Since they lived
before the invention of writing, the first humans used an oral tradition,
or what we now call “story telling”, to pass on their history and culture
from one generation to the next. By using language, people learned to
create and use symbols, words, or signs to express their ideas. Later on,
human beings created a written language and made the great leap to
literacy.

Education became an integral part of everyday living that was

consciously designed to impart knowledge in every part of the ancient
world. In ancient Egypt, priests in temple schools taught not only
religion but also the principles of writing, the sciences, mathematics,
and architecture. In India, priests taught the principles of the Veda, the
sacred texts of Hinduism, as well as science, grammar, and philosophy.
The earliest education in Asia stressed philosophy, poetry, and religion
in accordance with the teachings of Confucius and other philosophers.

As civilizations became more complex, education became more formal,

structured, and comprehensive. Initial efforts of ancient Chinese and
Greek societies concentrated solely on the education of males. Plato was
the first significant advocate of the equality of the sexes because in his
ideal state, women would have the same rights and duties, and the same

2
PCR211 MODULE 1

educational opportunities, as men. This aspect of Platonic philosophy,

however, had little or no effect on education for many centuries. Rather,
Aristotle’s concept of a liberal education for men only prevailed.

1.4 Development of Education

Historians look to ancient Greece as the birthplace of Western formal
education. The, epic poems attributed to Homer and written sometime in
the 8th century BC (Iliad and Odyssey), created a cultural tradition that
gave the Greeks a sense of group identity. Homer’s epics served
important educational purposes because the legendary Greek warriors
who were described in his writings, such as Agamemnon, Odysseus, and
Achilles, were heroes who served as role models that young Greeks
were expected to emulate.

Ancient Greece was divided into small and often competing city-states,
such as Athens, Sparta, and Thebes. Athens emphasized a humane and
democratic society and education, but only about one-third of the people
in Athens were free citizens and only the sons of free citizens attended
school. The Athenians believed a free man should have a liberal
education in order to perform his civic duties and for his own personal
development. In Athens, women had no legal or economic rights and for
that reason, most did not attend school. Some girls were however
educated at home by tutors. Slaves and other noncitizens on the other
hand, either had no formal education or very little of it. Sparta used
education for military training and drill. Unlike Athens, Spartan girls
received more schooling but this was almost exclusively focused on
training in athletics in order to prepare them to be healthy mothers of
future Spartan soldiers.

With time, a group of wandering teachers who were known as

‘Sophists’, began to teach in Athens. They claimed that they could teach
any subject or skill to anyone who wished to learn it. They specialized
in teaching grammar, logic, and rhetorics, subjects that eventually
formed the core of the liberal arts. The Sophists were more interested in
preparing their students to argue persuasively and win arguments than in
teaching principles of truth and morality.

Unlike the Sophists, Socrates the Greek philosopher sought to discover

and teach universal principles of truth, beauty, and goodness. Socrates
claimed that true knowledge existed within everyone and needed to be
brought to consciousness. His educational method, called the Socratic
Method, consisted of asking probing questions that forced his students to
think deeply about the meaning of life, truth, and justice.

Plato, who had studied under Socrates, later established a school in

Athens called the Academy. Plato believed in an unchanging world of

3
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

perfect ideas or universal concepts. He asserted that since true

knowledge is the same in every place at every time, education, like
truth, should be unchanging. Plato described his educational ideal in The
Republic where he describes a model society as one that is ruled by
highly intelligent philosopher-kings. Warriors make up the republic’s
second class of people, while workers (the lowest class) provide food
and the other products for all the people of the republic. Aristotle who
was a student of Plato also concluded that educated people who used
reason to make decisions would lead a life of moderation which will
make them to avoid dangerous and extreme decisions.

Plato argued that in an ideal educational system, each class should

receive the specific kind of instruction that will prepare them for their
various roles in society. Because their parents could not afford it,
children from poor homes received no formal education. They learnt a
trade to help support their families working as carpenters, stone masons,
or merchants. For this reason, most poor people were illiterate but the
difficulty in reading did not stop people from getting information. They
would find someone to read aloud any writing they needed to
understand. Greeks were comfortable with absorbing information by ear
and would often request literate people to read out loud: songs, poems,
speeches, stories, plays, and lively conversations. All of this formed part
of an informal education.

In the 4th century BC, Isocrates, a Greek orator developed a method of

education that was designed to prepare students to be competent orators
who could serve as government officials. His students studied rhetorics,
politics, ethics, and history. They examined model orations and
practiced public speaking.

In the 17th century, educators developed new ways of thinking about

education. Czech education reformer Jan Komensky created a new
educational philosophy called Pansophism (universal knowledge) that
was designed to bring about worldwide understanding and peace. He
advised teachers to use children’s senses rather than memorization in
instruction and in order to make learning interesting for children, he
wrote a book for teaching Latin in native languages.

The work of English philosopher John Locke greatly influenced

education in Britain and North America. Locke examined how people
acquired ideas and argued that the human mind is a blank slate (tabula
rasa) that is empty of ideas when they are born. According to him,
knowledge is acquired from the information about objects that our
senses bring to us; beginning with simple ideas and later combining
them into more complex ones. In his book ‘Some Thoughts Concerning
Education’ that was published in 1697, Like Plato, Locke believed that a
sound education began in early childhood and recommended practical

4
PCR211 MODULE 1

learning of reading, writing, and arithmetic that will prepare people to

manage their social, economic, and political affairs efficiently be
gradual and cumulative.

At the beginning of the 20th century, new writings encouraged

progressive education, which involves establishing a system of teaching
that emphasized the needs and potentials of a child, rather than the needs
of the society or the principles of religion.

1.5 Types of Education

Numerous definitions of education exist. For most people, education
means learning knowledge, skills, and sometimes attitudes. The most
important of these is learning how to learn. Learning means deciding
about your own lifestyle. Teaching, by itself, does not constitute
learning; similarly, passive listening does not constitute learning. This is
the reason why learners must decide to incorporate the knowledge, skill
or attitude that is learnt into their own set of values and behaviors
(lifestyle), otherwise, the learning will not be meaningful.

However, there is a need to remember that learning can take place in

both formal and informal settings and outside the classroom as well as
within it. Some learning is obtained through teachers and others are
obtained through experience. Some learnings are planned and intended
while some are accidental.

Most people assume that education and schooling are interchangeable

terms. Many people also seem to feel that any education that happens
outside of formal school settings is somehow inferior, usually dubious,
and certainly uncontrolled like that which obtains in the formal
classroom or laboratory settings. Some educators and many
philosophers point out that learning takes place inside and outside of
classrooms and for that reason, they argue correctly that learning may
occur informal, non-formal, and informal educational settings and that
the learning experience can be equally powerful in each of those
settings.

Before looking into the different types of education, there is a need to

define school.

School teaches, trains and educates. It can be described as an institution

that sets of instructions are given in a specific field of discipline. It is an
educational environment where pupils learn from teachers and various
topics based on writing, reading and calculating are fundamental to
learning.

5
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

1.5.1 Formal Education

Formal education is properly associated with schools. A more precise
definition is supplied by Coombs (1973) who noted among others that
formal education is “the hierarchically structured, chronologically
graded educational system running from primary school through the
university and including, in addition to general academic studies, a
variety of specialized programs and institutions for full-time technical
and professional training” (p. 11). Formal education usually involves an
evaluation or assessment of pupils’ acquired knowledge or competences
resulting in certification.

Formal education proposals in the UNESCO report on a culture of peace

include training of education personnel at all levels in the content,
learning methods and skills needed to promote peace and non-violence
and revision of existing curriculum materials and creation of new ones,
and particularly of history textbooks, to promote mutual understanding
and strengthen social cohesion and to remove prejudices or stereotypes
against certain groups. It also proposes that the culture of peace should
be modeled in the policies and practices of the classroom, the school,
and other learning environments by providing opportunities for all
members of the school community to participate in democratic decision-
making and governance processes.

1.5.2 Non-Formal Education

Non-formal education was defined as any intentional and systematic
educational enterprise (usually outside of traditional schooling) in which
the content of teaching and learning is adapted to the unique needs of
the students or unique situations in order to maximize learning and
minimize other elements which often occupy formal school teachers
such as taking roll calls, enforcing discipline, writing reports,
supervising examination halls, and so on (Kleis. 1973. p. 6).

Non-formal education is more learner-centered than most formal

education. It tends to emphasize a curriculum with options and choices
rather than the prescribed, sequential curriculum that is used in formal
schools. In non-formal education, human relationships are more
informal because the roles of teachers and students are less rigid and
sometimes switch unlike what obtains in schools where student-teacher
and teacher administrator roles are hierarchical and hardly change in the
short term. Unlike formal education which focuses on theory and
information that may have delayed application, non-formal education
focuses on practical skills and knowledge. Taken as a whole, non-formal
education has a lower level of structure, and therefore more flexibility,
than schools.

6
PCR211 MODULE 1

Non-formal education involves components like voluntary, accessibility,

learner-centered, participatory, among others Non-formal education
proposals in the UNESCO culture of peace proposal include the
development of methods of peaceful conflict resolution and non-
violence. This should include traditional conflict resolution approaches
and methods that take into consideration the current political climate, as
well as new information technologies. It is also proposed to strengthen
the active role of the family and the local community in a participatory
approach to determining what a culture of peace means, and how it can
be promoted in the local context.

1.5.3 Informal Education

Informal education which deals with everyday experiences which are
not planned or organized (incidental learning) is even less structured.
When these experiences are interpreted or explained by elders or peers,
they constitute informal education. In informal learning, learning is
controlled by the learners who may drop out any time without penalties.
As a result, educators emphasize skills, knowledge, and attitudes which
are desired by the learners. Content is more practical, therefore, and
responsibility for discipline shifts from teacher to learner. An example
of informal education is when infants and young children are learning to
speak. They learn by listening and imitating those around them. Their
trial and error efforts are augmented by parents, siblings, and friends
who encourage correct sounds and spontaneously correct errors.

Informal education proposals address the promotion of culture of peace

values through sports, dance, drama and other athletic and artistic
activities involving children and youth, the press, television, cinema,
video games and the Internet, including not only films but also cartoons,
comics, even news programs available to children and youth such as
“Speak Out” and “Tales by Moonlight” programs on the Nigerian
Television Authority (NTA) network television. Media education and
monitoring and maintaining collective consumer pressure on those who
produce and distribute mass media by parents’ associations, community
organization, consumer organizations and institutions are proposed in
order to promote the values of a culture of peace, and freedom from the
promotion of violence, intolerance, racism and sexual exploitation.

While formal and non-formal educations are actually different, they are
not opposites. Both of them emphasize organized and intentional
learning. Both involve structure, professional educators, and choices by
learners. Responsibility for learning is shared among educators and
learners. Formal and non-formal education can complement each other
if properly understood. Along with informal education, both provide
powerful learning opportunities which can strengthen and support one
another.

7
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

1.6 Learning Theories of Education

In education, a common definition of learning is that it is a process that
brings together cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences and
experiences for acquiring, enhancing, or making changes in one’s
knowledge, skills, values, and world views (Illeris, 2000). Learning is a
lifelong process, usually from birth till death (OECD, 2007). Learning
as a process focuses on what happens when learning takes place. The
explanation of what happens is what is often referred to as learning
theories. A learning theory is an attempt to describe how people and
animals learn, thereby helping to understand the inherently complex
process of learning.

Learning theories have two main values (Hill, 2002). One has to do with
provision of vocabulary and a conceptual framework for interpreting the
examples of learning that is observed, while the other has to do with
how education and learning suggest where to look for solutions to
practical problems. The theories do not give solutions, but they actually
direct attention to those variables that will assist in finding the solutions
that are sought. There are three main categories or frameworks under
which learning theories fall: behaviorism, cognitivism, and
constructivism.

Constructivism
Constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively
constructs or builds new ideas or concepts based upon current and past
knowledge or experience. In other words, learning involves constructing
one’s own knowledge from one’s personal experiences. Constructivist
learning, therefore, is a very personal endeavor, whereby internalized
concepts, rules, and general principles may consequently be applied in a
practical real-world context. This is also known as social constructivism.
Social constructivists are of the opinion that knowledge is constructed
when individuals engage socially in talk and activity about shared
problems or tasks. Learning is therefore seen as the process by which
individuals are introduced to a culture by others who are more skilled
(Driver et al., 1994). Constructivism has many variations, such as Active
learning, discovery learning, and knowledge building. Regardless of the
variety, the teacher acts as a facilitator who encourages students to discover
principles for themselves and to construct knowledge by working to solve
realistic problems. Aspects of constructivism can be found in self-directed
learning, transformational learning, experiential learning, situated
cognition, and reflective practice.

8
PCR211 MODULE 1

Behaviorism
The theory of behaviorism was developed by B. F. Skinner but includes
the earlier work of scholars like Thorndike, Tolman, Guthrie, and Hull.
What distinguishes these scholars is their underlying assumptions about
the process of learning, which involves three basic assumptions:
1. learning is manifested by a change in behavior.
2. the environment shapes behavior.
3. the principles of contiguity (how close in time, two events must
be for a bond to be formed) and reinforcement (any means of
increasing the likelihood that an event will be repeated) are
central to explaining the learning process.

For behaviorism, learning is the acquisition of new behavior through

two forms of conditioning:
1. Classical conditioning, where the behavior becomes a reflex
response to stimulus
2. Operant conditioning where there is reinforcement of the
behavior by a reward or a punishment.

Reinforcement increases the likelihood of a behavior recurring, while

punishment decreases the likelihood that such behavior will be repeated.
For this reason, a punishment is not considered to be a punishment if it
does not result in the reduction of an undesired behavior. For this
reason, punishment and reinforcement are expected to result in some
form of action.

Cognitivism
This learning theory is all about the way people think. Learning involves
mental processes and can be influenced by both internal thoughts and
external forces and how they impact learning. The focus of cognitivism
is on the idea that pupils should process information received rather than
just respond to a stimulus (Fullbrook, 2019) Cognitive learning theory
make impacts on pupils due to their thought process that can help them
to learn. Opportunities can be given to pupils to ask questions and to
think aloud which are strategies that can help pupils to understand how
their thought process function and also make use of this knowledge to
construct better learning opportunities.

Class Activity
1. Why is education necessary?
2. Which social institutions are involved in the development and
delivery of education?

Self-Assessment Exercise
1. What is the difference between formal, non-formal and informal
forms of education?
2. What is the main focus of learning theories that you know?

9
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

1.7 Summary

In order to succeed in making the world a better and safer place to live,
there have to be commitment on peoples’ part to developing formal and
non-formal education and to promote quality basic education that is
grounded upon universal values and practice of a culture of peace and
non-violence. Such a task requires the cooperation of every one in all
areas of life: in schools, workplaces, the home; at the national and the
community levels as well as in the public and private sectors.

For the culture of a particular group to continue to thrive, they have to

transmit or pass it on, from adults to children. Through direct, informal
education, parents, elders, and priests taught children the skills and roles
they would need when they become adults. These lessons eventually
form the moral codes that govern the behavior of these children as well
as adults. Education has thus become an integral part of everyday living
that is consciously designed to impart knowledge in every part of the
world.

1.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources

Allen, G. J., Sheckley, B. G., & Keeton, M. T. (1993) Adult learning as
recursive process. The Journal of Cooperative Education, 28, 56-
67.

Boyatzis, R. E., Cowen, S. S., & Kolb, D. A. Eds. (1995) Innovation in

professional education: Steps in a journey from teaching to
learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Coombs, P. (1973) New paths to learning for rural children and youth.
New York: International Council for Educational Development.

Fullbrook, P. (2019) 15 Learning Theories in Education (A Complete

Summary)

Hamburg, D.A. (1994) Education for conflict resolution; New York:

Carnegie Corporation.

Kleis, J., Lang, L., Mietus, J.R. & Tiapula, F.T.S. (1973) Toward a
contextual definition

McCarthy, B. (1996) About Learning. New York: Excel Inc.

10
PCR211 MODULE 1

Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development - OECD

(2007) Understanding the Brain: The Birth of a Learning Science.
OECD Publishing. Page 165

Retamal, G. & Devadoss, M. (1998) Education in a nation with chronic

crisis: The case of Somalia. In G. Retamal, & R. Aedo-Richmond
(Eds), Education as a humanitarian response; London: Cassell.
UNESCO. (1998). Preliminary consolidated report to the United Nations
on a culture of peace. (Item 8.5). Paris: Author. (1545EX/42).

11
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

1.9Possible Answer to Self-Assessment Exercises

Answer

i. Informal education which deals with everyday experiences

which are not planned or organized (incidental learning) is even less
structured. When these experiences are interpreted or explained by
elders or peers, they constitute informal education.

Non-formal education was defined as any intentional and systematic

educational enterprise (usually outside of traditional schooling) in which
the content of teaching and learning is adapted to the unique needs of
the students or unique situations in order to maximize learning and
minimize other elements which often occupy formal school teachers
such as taking roll calls, enforcing discipline, writing reports,
supervising examination halls, and so on.

Formal education is properly associated with schools. A more precise

definition is supplied by Coombs (1973) who noted among others that
formal education is “the hierarchically structured, chronologically
graded educational system running from primary school through the
university and including, in addition to general academic studies, a
variety of specialized programs and institutions for full-time technical
and professional training.

ii. Learning as a process focuses on what happens when learning

takes place. The explanation of what happens is what is often referred to
as learning theories. A learning theory is an attempt to describe how
people and animals learn, thereby helping to understand the inherently
complex process of learning.

12
PCR211 MODULE 1

UNIT 2 PEACE: A CONCEPTUAL OVERVIEW

Unit Structure

2.1 Introduction
2.2 Leaning Outcomes
2.3 Concept of Peace
2.4 Essence of Peace and War
2.5 Human Nature and War
2.6 The Search for Peace
2.7 Emergence of Peace Advocacy
2.8 Advocacy for Peace Among Nations
2.9 Diversity of Perspectives on Humankind’s Search for Peace
2.10 Summary
2.11 References/Further Readings/Web Resources
2.12 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

2.1 Introduction
Peace, like conflict, is an amorphous term. In most cases, people’s
understanding is at best, very pedestrian because we either see it in
absolute positive terms as the absence of war or violent conflict, or in its
most remedial form, as something that exists but is difficult to define
because it is seen as relative and applicable only within individual
feelings and world view as the case may be. In other words, conception
of peace is in some sense a tangible value and in another, a vague, yet
important value.

2.2 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you would be able to:

• Analyse the concept of peace and its various usages

• Identify the factors that caused humankind to seek peace
• Identify individuals who championed the cause of global peace
• Understand how international institutions that seek to safeguard
peace emerged.

2.3 Concept of Peace

In contemporary times, peace has become a central issue of concern of
research because of the overhanging shadow of protracted internal wars
leading to state failure, collapse, terrorism, thermonuclear, chemical and

13
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

biological warfare. As competition for global resources between states is

intensified; academics have become drawn to how ethnic, regional and
class divisions within many countries become deepened into fierce and
bitter competition over access to resources, intense rivalry among elites,
and open conflict that have sometimes led to State failure or collapse.

The interest of scholars could also be interpreted as a reaction to

negative effects that war and threats to the peace induce among social
groups. For this reason, peace has become an article of great value to all
segments of society. In essence, even though scholars lay psychological,
political and social emphases on war and its effects on human history,
they have also tried to examine at the same time the value in the absence
of war. This emphasis probably underlines or buttresses the fact that
despite the larger than life image that conflict, violence and war have
come to assume in the minds of humankind, peace in personal and social
relations is much more common than war.

By way of definition, scholars tend to define peace within a given prism.

For instance, while Evans and Newnham define peace as “a political
condition other than one of organized armed conflict (war) that is often
distinguished from a situation of non-war” (1992: 250), Others like
Galtung (1996) showed a sociological bias by defining peace as “what
we have when creative conflict transformation takes place non-
violently”.

In the case of the United States Department of Justice, peace is: “a

process of responding to diversity and conflict with tolerance,
imagination, and flexibility; fully exercising one’s responsibilities to
ensure that all fully enjoy human rights” (1996: D-2); while Czempiel
employed an international relations perspective to defining peace by
arguing that peace is “a process pattern of the international system,
characterized by a tendency toward: the preservation of individual
existence on the basis of declining violence; and the continuation of
individual self-realization on the basis of increasingly equal distribution
of development chances” (1996:107).

From the definitions above, the word ‘peace’ seems to be used by the
great leaders of the world in every other sense except in the one which it
conveys primarily. It is most often used for a mere absence of war.
During the Cold War, big powers claimed they were trying to secure the
peace in the world by stockpiling sophisticated weapons. What this
means is that they need to pile up weapons that will be used in
destroying others who threaten their interests. How such an attitude can
be called ‘peace’ is not easy to understand but it probably followed the
ancient Roman proverb that says “If you want peace prepare for war”.

14
PCR211 MODULE 1

Peace is something far more positive. It has been described as the

tranquility of order. If well understood, the phrase contains a great piece
of wisdom that lawlessness and disorder destroy external peace and
bring about disturbance of minds and hearts and leads to the loss of
tranquility. We thus see tranquility of order bringing about a certain
tranquility of mind and heart.

2.4 Essence of Peace and War

In the preamble of the constitution of the UNESCO, it is written that

“Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the
defenses of peace must be constructed” that ignorance of each other's
ways and lives has been common cause, throughout the history of
mankind, of that suspicion and mistrust between the people of the world
through which their differences have all too often broken into war.

Three conceptions on the essence of peace have been particularly

noticeable in the course of establishing an intellectual climate in which
research that is related to peace has flourished. The first is the line of
reasoning that sees peace as a natural condition, whereas war is not. The
preoccupation of peace researchers then became a quest to generate and
present enough information that will enable a rational group of decision
makers to seek to avoid war and conflict. Second, is the view that war is
sinful. This view is held by a variety of religious traditions worldwide,
especially by minority sects such as Quakers, Mennonites and other
churches within Christianity; Jains within the religious life of India, and
many sects within Buddhism. Thirdly pacifists hold the view that peace
is a prime force in human behaviour and for this reason, the most
reasonable way to maintain it is to shun every form of violence and
conflict that may impair it.

What has become clear, therefore, is that peace is a psychological,

social, political, ethical and spiritual state that has its expressions in
intrapersonal, interpersonal, inter-group, international, and global issues
that are related to human existence. Peace is at the same time a basic
human aspiration, and a process within which such aspiration is
accomplished. In whatever way it is defined, the concept “peace” points
to a vision of perfect tranquility that serves as an ideal limit for the
achievement of human ambitions as well as an indicator of the
intermittently delicate tranquility of historical order.

Findings of various peace scholars on peace processes across the ages

point to the conclusion that peace has to be sought through the
conscious efforts of individuals and groups; that it has to be nurtured
and maintained; and that whenever it is broken, it needs to be restored
through reconciliation. In other words, the work of peace is continuous

15
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

because human relationships and the clashes that they generate is a

constant occurrence, and there is no end to it.

2.5 Human Nature and War

Thomas Hobbes provides the setting to explore the relationship between

human nature and war in his discourse on a state of nature in which he
attempted to describe the ‘true’ nature of man. Hobbes is unwavering
that without an external power to impose laws; the state of nature would
be one of permanent warfare. That is, “during the time men live without
a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition
which is called War; and such a war, as is of every man, against every
man.” Hobbes’s thesis is a useful starting point for discussions on the
natural inclinations of humans and many of the great philosophers who
followed him, including Locke, Rousseau, and Kant, agree to with his
description to some extent.

Locke rejects Hobbes’s completely lawless and total warlike state but
agreed that there will always be people who will take advantage of the
lack of legislation and enforcement. Rousseau reverses Hobbes’ position
to argue that in the state of nature, man is naturally peaceful and not
aggressive. However, when Rousseau discussed international politics,
he adopted the arguments of Hobbes, arguing that states will decline and
fall unless they are aggressive; war is inevitable and any attempts at
peaceful federations will be unsuccessful.

On his part, Kant’s position is that the innate conflicts between men and
later between states make humanity to seek peace and federation. It is
not that man’s reason alone teaches him the benefits of a pacifistic
peace, but that war, which is inevitable when structures of law are
absent, induces men to consider and realize more peaceful arrangements
of their affairs. Despite this, even Kant retained a pessimistic conception
of mankind: “War seems to be ingrained in human nature, and even to
be regarded as something noble to which man is inspired by his love of
honor, not selfish motives.”

Hobbes presents an atomistic view of humanity that many people

disagree with. Communitarians of various kinds reject the notion of an
isolated individual pitted against others who are then prompted to sign a
contract between themselves for peace. Some critics prefer an organic
idea of the community in which the individual’s ability to negotiate for
peace (through a social contract) or to wage war is embedded in the
social structures where he finds himself.

Going back to John Donne’s statement that “no man is an island” and to
Aristotle’s “man is a political animal”, scholars seek to emphasize the

16
PCR211 MODULE 1

social connections that are common to human affairs, and for this
reason, any theoretical writing on human nature, and on war, requires an
examination of the society that man lives in. Since the issues that
determine the nature of man are relative to time and place, the same is
true about the nature of war.

There are those who reject any theorizing on human nature. Kenneth
Waltz argues for example that while human nature plays a role in
bringing about war, it cannot by itself explain both war and peace.
Existentialists also argue that human nature is contrary to the popular
belief that man has complete freedom of will. This problem is that this
removes any need to search for commonalties in wars and warriors of
different periods in history, an effort which could be of great benefit
both to military historians and peace activists.

2.6 The Search for Peace

It is often assumed that all human beings desire peace. Factors that
create this assumption are to be found within social organisations such
as everyday interactions that uphold peace as a goal that everybody
seeks to attain on a continuous basis. However, what each person means
when they say they desire peace and how they propose to attain and
maintain it is something that is not always easy for them to explain.

Across the different periods of history and in different cultures of the

world, human belief systems (by whatever name they are called) create,
in one subtle way or another, a commitment in the minds of their
adherents towards peace. This is because, although on many occasions
across history, adherents and leaders of the different religions in the
world have disrupted peace in their society by promoting violence and
wars, the vast majority of believers still hold that true religion is a
source and guarantor of individual and societal peace.

For instance, starting from 1096AD, there were a total of seven

“Crusades” involving repeated attempts by European Christians to
recapture Palestine, which they considered as the “Holy Land” from
Muslims. Although the term “Crusade” was originally applied solely to
efforts made by European kingdoms to retake the city of Jerusalem,
which was considered a sacred site to Christians as the site of the
crucifixion of Jesus Christ from Muslims, it later became the general
description of any military effort by Europeans against non-Christians.
Despite the long time it took to bring the Crusades to a full and final
end, peace was restored in the late 13th century.

The different ways and senses in which we use the word “peace” adds to
the confusion over the term and its goals and how these may be
harmonized. For instance, the word may denote freedom from war, or
the time when a war or conflict ends with the signing of a peace

17
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

agreement; a calm and quiet state that is free from disturbances or noise;
a state of mental calm and serenity, with no anxiety; freedom from
conflict or disagreement among people or groups of people or the
absence of violence or other disturbances within a state.

2.7 Emergence of Peace Advocates

Violence and its manifestations especially at the level of large scale

upheavals have always generated anxieties among humans. This anxiety
led in time to the establishment of coalitions that sought in one way or
the other to halt or discourage war and violence. Although organized
peace movements did not appear until the 19th century, the modern
search for a means of preventing war began with the rise of nation-states
at the end of the Middle Ages and series of peace advocacy by
philosophers and Kings.

Peace movements are social groups that seek to achieve ideals such as
the ending of a particular war (or all wars), minimize violence between
human collectives (small groups and nation-states alike) as a way of
achieving world peace. The strategies that they employ in most cases
include advocacy of pacifism, non-violent resistance, diplomacy,
boycotts, “moral purchasing” and active support for political candidates
who are committed to work against war, and other forms of collective
violence, peaceful demonstrations, and political lobbying by groups to
create anti-war legislation.

On the other hand, pacifism involves opposition to war or violence as a

means of settling disputes or gaining political, social or cultural
advantage. Pacifism covers a variety of views ranging from the belief
that international disputes can and should be peacefully resolved; to
calls for the abolition of the institutions of the military and war;
opposition to any organization of society through governmental force;
rejection of the use of physical violence to obtain political, economic or
social goals; the condemnation of force except in cases where it is
absolutely necessary to advance the cause of peace; and an opposition to
violence under any circumstance, including defense of self and others.
The ideas that both peace movements and pacifists uphold and
champion developed much earlier in time. In the 14th century, the
philosopher Dante spoke of his anticipation of the establishment of a
world empire that will help to abolish war in the future. While such an
“empire” was difficult to fathom at that time and even now, his
arguments influenced other converts including kings across the
continent of Europe and beyond.

18
PCR211 MODULE 1

In the 15th century, George of Poděbrad, the king of Bohemia, proposed

an international parliament of nations that will serve as a platform for
debating disagreements between nations and thereby discouraging resort
to violence and war. In the 16th century Henry IV, king of France lent
his voice to the suggestion by George of Poděbrad. This desire to
promote peaceful coexistence among humans continued to gain ground
when writers like William Penn and Charles Castel effectively used
their writing for advocating peace. William Penn wrote his popular
classic: An Essay Towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe
which was written in 1694, while Castel similarly influenced readers of
his time with his proposals for securing “perpetual peace” in the 18th
century.

With time, peace societies and later, peace movements were established
in different European countries and the Americas. In 1848, the
American linguist, Elihu Burritt founded the League of Universal
Brotherhood, which established branches in the United States, Britain,
France, and Holland. Despite their clear stand on non-violence among
nations, early idealistic groups that were formed had no specific plans to
prevent war beyond a willingness to use moral persuasion and other
informal influence tactics on political leadership within their countries.

Many other peace groups that focused on domestic problems that

frequently generated conflicts such as the International Workingmen’s
Association, which advocated workers’ strikes to prevent wars, and the
International Peace Bureau, composed of national peace councils and
committees from various countries were formed toward the end of the
19th century. Their activities, including frequent national and
international meetings and congresses and the establishment of such
awards as the Nobel Peace Prize further encouraged public interest in
the peace movement and their anti-war objectives.

The Nobel Peace Prize was bequeathed by Swedish industrialist and

inventor Alfred Nobel. According to his will, the Peace Prize should be
awarded “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work
for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing
armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” While
the reason behind the establishment of a peace prize by someone who
spent his life investing in weapons of war is not very clear, scholars who
have studied the life and times of Alfred Nobel have speculated that
bequeathing the prize was his way of compensating for the development
of destructive weapons (including dynamite and ballistae) and
transforming an iron company that was established for peaceful
purposes to an armaments factory that contributed to the spread of
violence in several parts of the world.

19
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

2.8 Advocacy for Peace among Nations

The idea that human beings can organise to form a peaceful community
of nations was mooted when Immanuel Kant’s published his seminal
book Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch in 1795 which outlined
the idea of a league of nations that would control conflict and promote
peace between nation states across Europe. In his book, Kant argued on
a need for the establishment of a peaceful world community where each
member state would declare itself as a free state that respects its citizens
and welcomes foreign visitors as fellow rational beings. It was Kant’s
thinking that if this “Union of Free States” promotes peaceful society
worldwide, a perpetual peace that is guaranteed by the international
community can emerge.

Flowing from Kant’s work, and against the background of brutal wars
that had ravaged Europe and other parts of the world across the ages
such as the French Revolution (1789), the Napoleonic Wars (1803 to
1815), the Greek War of Independence (1821—29), the Italian War of
Independence (1848-56), the Crimean War (1854-56), the Austro-
Prussian War (1866) and the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71);
international collaborations that were designed to ensure collective
security began to emerge gradually. These efforts resulted in the
Concert of Europe that emerged after the Napoleonic Wars in the
nineteenth century, the first Geneva Conventions which established laws
about humanitarian relief during war, and the International Hague
Conventions of 1899 and 1907 which governed rules of engagement in
war-time as well as the peaceful settlement of international disputes.

Following initial successes with the Concert of Europe (1814—1914),

the result of a custom that emerged after the French Revolution that
involved great powers of Europe meeting from time to time in an
International Congress to find a solution through mutual agreement,
whenever any problem arose that threatened peace among European
nations, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), was formed by two peace
activists William Randal Cremer and Frederic Passy in 1889. The
organization was composed of a third of the members of parliament in
24 European countries. The IPU worked to encourage governments to
solve international disputes by peaceful means and arbitration.

With the waning of the IPU’s influence over political disputes in

Europe, efforts by individuals and groups who believed in Kant’s vision
continued and led to the establishment of The League of Nations (LoN),
an inter-governmental organization after the Treaty of Versailles was
signed by European states in 1919–1920. The League worked to uphold
the “Rights of Man” (defined as the right of non-whites, rights of
women, and rights of soldiers as stipulated in the First Geneva

20
PCR211 MODULE 1

Convention of 1864), disarmament, prevent war through collective

security, settle disputes between countries and through negotiation,
diplomacy, and improve the quality of life across the world.

After a few successes and some early failures in the 1920s, it became
clear that the League was incapable of preventing aggression by
member nations and onset of World War II in 1939 showed that the
League had failed to meet the primary purpose for which it was formed,
namely: to avoid any future world war and was replaced by the United
Nations after the war ended.

Following the failure of the League of Nations, the United Nations (UN)
was established in 1945 to maintain international peace and promote
cooperation in solving international economic, social and humanitarian
problems. Despite the violent conflicts and wars that continue to occur
in different parts of the world, the UN has continued to work for the
maintenance of world peace. The “Culture of Peace” program
coordinated by UNICEF was a product of a UN General Assembly
Resolution passed on 10 November 1998 that is based on the principles
established in its Charter which focuses on respect for human rights,
democracy and tolerance, the promotion of development, education for
peace, the free flow of information and the wider participation of
women as an integral approach to preventing violence and conflicts, and
efforts aimed at the creation of conditions for peace and its
consolidation all over the world.

2.9 Diversity of Perspectives on Humankind’s Search for

Peace

In view of the multiplicity of views that has made it difficult for a

widely-accepted definition to emerge on the subject of peace, some
“peace thinkers” have abandoned any single and all-encompassing
definition of peace. Rather, they promote the idea that a precise
definition will never be possible because individuals and groups pursue
several peace at any point in time. They therefore argue that since no
singular, correct definition of peace can exist, peace should be perceived
as a plurality and not, as previously thought, a singular pursuit. For
example, in the Great Lakes region of Africa, the word for peace is
kindoki, which refers to a harmonious balance between human beings,
the rest of the natural world, and the cosmos. This is a much broader
vision of peace than the “absence of war” or even “presence of justice”
arguments of other schools of thought.

Some postmodernists have also criticized the idea of peace as a hopeful

or eventual end. They recognize that peace does not necessarily have to
be a futuristic goal that humankind might achieve sometime in the future

21
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

and contend instead that peace exists in the present, and we can create
and expand it in small ways in our everyday activities. They add in
addition that peace is characteristically fluid and changes constantly.
This view makes peace permeable and imperfect rather than static and
utopian.

Class Activity
1. What factors are responsible for the limited success of the League
of Nations as a body established to end all Wars?
2. Why has peace been a major preoccupation of the human race?

Self-Assessment Exercise
1. What is ‘peace’?
2. How did peace advocacy emerge in Europe and who were the
champions?

2.10 Summary

In this unit, we have examined peace as a concept and the forces that
propelled humankind into a diligent search for peace. We also examined
how individuals and groups, philosophers and kings, peace movements
and pacifists all played a role in bringing about an ideal that was first
mooted by Dante and later promoted by others like Henry IV, William
Penn, Emmanuel Kant and Alfred Nobel who established the award of
the Nobel Peace Prize. We concluded by examining how the ideals of
universal peace became a reality with the signing of the Treaty of
Versailles, emergence of the Inter Parliamentary Union, the League of
Nations, and finally, the United Nations as well as the factors
responsible for the limited success of some of these bodies.

2.11 References/Further Readings/Web Resources

Boulding, K. E. (1978) Stable Peace. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Boutros-Ghali, B. (1992) An Agenda for Peace. New York: United

Nations.

Chadwick F. Alger, “The United Nations in Historical Perspective:

What Have We Learned About Peace-building?” in Richard A.
Falk, Samuel S. Kim, and Saul H. Mendlovitz, eds. (1991), The

22
PCR211 MODULE 1

United Nations and a Just World Order; Boulder, Colo.:

Westview.

Evans, G. G. (1994) Cooperating for Peace: The Global Agenda for the
1990’s and Beyond; Paul & Co. Publishing Consortium.

Galtung, J. (1969) “Violence, Peace and Peace Research”; Journal of

Peace Research, No. 3.

Groff, L. “On the Values of Cultural and Ecological Diversity and Their
Importance to an Effectively Functioning World--Including the
UN & UNESCO,”

Keene, A. T. (1998) Peacemakers: Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lyons, G. M., and M. Mastanduno, eds. (1995) Beyond Westphalia:

State Sovereignty and International Intervention. Baltimore, Md.:
Johns Hopkins University Press.

O’Connell, D. (1988) “Love, Force and Violence: a Theological Note on

Peace”, The Month 21(11) (November).

Pruitt, D.G. & J. Z. Rubin (1986) Social Conflict: Escalation, Stalemate

and Settlement; New York: Newbury Award Inc.

Rapoport, A. (1974) Conflict in Man-Made Environment, Middlesex:

Penguin/ Harmondsworth.

Sandole, D.J.D. (1993) ‘Paradigms, Theories, and Metaphors in Conflict

and Conflict Resolution: Coherence or Confusion?’, in D.J.D.
Sandole and H. van der Merwe (eds), Conflict Resolution Theory
and Practice: Integration and Application, New York: St. Martin's
Press.

Simmel, G. (1956) Conflict and the web of group affiliations; Glencoe,

IL: Free Press.

Smock, R David (1992) Religious Perspectives on War; Washington

D.C: United States Institute of Peace Press.

Stanley M. Burstein and Richard Shek (2005) “World History Ancient

Civilizations”; London: Holt, Rinhart and Winston

23
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

2.12Possible Answer to Self-Assessment Exercise

Answer

1. Peace as “a political condition other than one of organized armed

conflict (war) that is often distinguished from a situation of non-war” or
Peace can be define , as a process of responding to diversity and conflict
with tolerance, imagination, and flexibility; fully exercising one’s
responsibilities to ensure that all fully enjoy human rights.

2. Violence and its manifestations especially at the level of large

scale upheavals have always generated anxieties among humans. This
anxiety led in time to the establishment of coalitions that sought in one
way or the other to halt or discourage war and violence. Although
organized peace movements did not appear until the 19th century, the
modern search for a means of preventing war began with the rise of
nation-states at the end of the Middle Ages and series of peace advocacy
by philosophers and Kings.

Peace movements are social groups that seek to achieve ideals such as
the ending of a particular war (or all wars), minimize violence between
human collectives (small groups and nation-states alike) as a way of
achieving world peace. The strategies that they employ in most cases
include advocacy of pacifism, non-violent resistance, diplomacy,
boycotts, “moral purchasing” and active support for political candidates
who are committed to work against war, and other forms of collective
violence, peaceful demonstrations, and political lobbying by groups to
create anti-war legislation.

24
PCR211 MODULE 1

UNIT 3 PEACE AND EDUCATION

Unit Structure

3.1 Introduction
3.2 Learning Outcome
3.3 Peace
3.4 Education and Peace
3.5 Peace Education
3.6 The Role of Peace Educators
3.7 Summary
3.8 References/Further Readings/Web Sources
3.9 Possible Answer to Self-Assessment Exercises

3.1 Introduction

There are several ways to look at peace and this is shown in the various
ways it has been defined within the field of peace studies. As we will
find out shortly, each definition appears to fit particular world views or
orientations of the scholars who provided these definitions. However,
this is not to say that there are no points of similarities between the
definitions. What would be more correct is to see them as
complementing each other to the extent that they identify and highlight
very salient issues that are germane to peace. Education serves the
purpose of teaching understanding and respect for all peoples, their
cultures, civilizations, values and ways of life, including domestic ethnic
cultures and cultures of other nations; and for increasing awareness of
global interdependence between peoples and nations.

3.2 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this Unit, you would be able to:

• Discuss the connection between Education and Peace

• Define peace education
• Identify the key issues in peace education
• Articulate the role of peace educators.

25
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

3.3 Peace

The word ‘peace’ is derived from the Latin word ‘pax’ which literally
means a pact, a contract, an agreement to end war or any dispute and
conflict between two people, nations or antagonistic groups of people. A
situation or a period of time in which there is no war or violence in a
country or an area is often described as peaceful. Peace can be a state of
harmony or the absence of hostility. “Peace” can also be a nonviolent
way of life. “Peace” often depicts cessation of violent conflict, a state of
quiet or tranquility or an absence of disturbance or agitation. Peace can
also describe a relationship between any people characterized by
respect, justice and goodwill.

Conception of peace as tranquility can also pertain to an individual’s

sense of himself or herself, as being “at peace” with one’s own mind.
This is why Saint Augustine argued that peace and health go hand-in-
hand. As he puts it:

“The peace of the body then consists in the duly proportioned

arrangement of its parts. The peace of the irrational soul is the
harmonious repose of the appetites, and that of the rational soul the
harmony of knowledge and action. The peace of body and soul is the
well-ordered and harmonious life and health of the living creature.”

Following from the above, peace can pertain to an individual relative to

his or her environment, because the use of the word peaceful could be to
describe calm, serenity, and silence. This latter understanding of peace
can also pertain to an individual’s sense of self, as to be “at peace” with
oneself would indicate the same serenity, calmness, and equilibrium
within oneself—i.e., a life devoid of worries, bitterness or pain. This
probably explains why some people refer to death as a state of peace
with one’s creator.

In most cases, when people mouth the word “peace”, they refer to an
absence of hostility. However, the term also represents a situation where
there is, among others, a healthy or newly-healed interpersonal or
international relationship; safety in matters related to social or economic
welfare; the acknowledgment of equality and fairness in political
relationships and, in world matters. Thus, peacetime represents a state
where any war or conflict is absent. Whenever we reflect on the nature
of peace, it is usually in relation to considerations of the factors that
bring about its absence or loss including such critical issues like
insecurity, social injustice, economic inequality, political and religious
radicalism, and acute nationalism.

26
PCR211 MODULE 1

Words that signify peace such as the Hebrew word “shalom”, the Arabic
word “salaam”, the Yoruba word “alaafia” and the Igbo word “udo” all
signify a lot of things that human beings desire such as safety, welfare,
prosperity, security, fortune, friendliness. The personalized meaning is
reflected in a nonviolent lifestyle, which also describes a relationship
between any people characterized by respect, justice and goodwill. This
understanding of peace can also pertain to an individual’s sense of
herself or himself such as being “at peace” with one’s own self and
having “rest of mind”. The term is also used in the sense of “quiet”,
reflecting a calm, serene, and meditative approach to family or group
relationships that is devoid of quarrels among individuals and social
groups.

3.4 Education and Peace

In view of mankind’s experience with war and violence, a global

movement has emerged which recommends discussion of issues of
peace in education at all levels and in all its forms. According to this
movement, education could be used to teach understanding and respect
for all peoples, their cultures, civilizations, values and ways of life,
including domestic ethnic cultures and cultures of other nations; and
increase awareness of the increasing global interdependence between
peoples and nations.

They also argue that education is capable of improving the abilities of

people to communicate with others; lead to an awareness not only of
rights but also of the duties incumbent upon individuals, social groups
and nations towards each other; foster an understanding of the necessity
for international solidarity and co-operation; and that education could be
used to measure the readiness on the part of individuals to participate in
solving the problems of their communities, their country and the world
at large.

They also believe that education could remove the ignorance that is
often associated with violence in human societies, which many people
believe is an inherent part of human nature. Those who have disagreed
with the notion that violence is part of human nature argue instead that
although it is widespread and universal in occurrence, violence is a
phenomenon that emerged as late as the last ten thousand years.

Those who advocate pursuing a culture of peace through education also

believe that the institution of warfare and its associated culture of
violence are cultural phenomena and not biological phenomena
inherited from our ancestors, and that war is a social invention rather
than a fatality determined by genes, violent brains, human nature or

27
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

instincts. For this reason, it is essential to understand how and why the
culture of war developed and has been sustained over time. To ask these
questions, we then need to create understanding through education. The
use of education for the pursuit of peace will thus involve:

1. Training and practice of conflict resolution and mediation in

school systems, among staff and students, and extension of such
knowledge through community involvement to the rest of
society;

2. Linkage of school activities to ongoing activities in communities

that promote participation by all in culture and development;

3. Incorporation of discussions on social movements, peace and

non-violence, democracy and good governance into school
curricula;

4. Extension of the sense of community to all peoples with the aim

of preserving both the world's cultural diversity and its ecology
for future generations;
5. Systematic review of school curricula to ensure an approach to
ethnic, racial and cultural differences that emphasizes their
equality and unique contributions to the enrichment of the
common good;

6. Systematic review and renovation of the teaching of history, to

lay more emphasis on non-violent social change as opposed to
military aspects of history; and

7. Teaching of science as a tool which can be used for war or for

peace, for exploitation or for co-operative development.

On the basis of the above, use of education to promote peace (peace

education) entails inculcating the need for positive response to diversity
and conflicts with tolerance, imagination, flexibility into the minds of
individuals, and fully exercising one’s responsibilities to ensure that the
rights of others and the freedom to exercise such rights are fully
protected.

3.5 Peace Education

Peace education is a process of imparting specific skills, attitude and

knowledge on people, thereby helping them to solve problems by
building consensus, creating cultural awareness and showing empathy
which is expected to build positive attitude about justice and respect for

28
PCR211 MODULE 1

democracy. Through peace education, individuals would understand the

dynamics of social conflicts, warfare, conflicts resolution and peace.

Briefly put, the aim of peace education is for students to understand the
nature and origins of violence and its effects on both victim and
perpetrator; to create frameworks for achieving peaceful creative
societies; to sharpen awareness about the existence of unpeaceful
relationships between people and within and between nations; to
investigate the causes of conflicts and violence embedded within
perceptions, values and attitudes of individuals as well as within social
and political structures of society; to encourage the search for alternative
or possible nonviolent skills; and to equip children and adults with
personal conflict resolution skills.

According to the peace education Working Group of the United Nations

Children’s Fund (UNICEF, 2004) peace education is “the process of
promoting knowledge, skills and values that will bring about
behavioural changes that will enable children, youths and adults to
prevent conflict and overt and structural violence; to resolve conflict
peacefully; and to create the conditions conducive for peace, whether at
intrapersonal, interpersonal, inter-group, national or international level.
Peace education therefore covers such topics as anti-racism, conflict
resolution, multiculturalism, cross-cultural training and the cultivation
of a generally peaceful outlook (Salmon 2002:7).

At the core of peace education is the consciousness and conscience of

the human being. It seeks to develop persons with rational, ethical minds
whose vision of the world and its inhabitants is that of unity. The values
that animate this unity can be expressed in different cultural
connotations according to varying modes of life, but the unity does not
imply that there is one conceptual vision of this unity. Diversity and
differences are a natural expression of this consciousness; however,
peace remains the underlying value and the instrument by which this
unity is achieved through interdependence.

Peace education is about empowering people with the skills, attitudes,

and knowledge to build, maintain, and restore relationships at all levels
of human interaction; to develop positive approaches towards dealing
with conflicts from the personal to the international; to create safe
environments, both physically and emotionally, that nurture each
individual; to create a safe world based on justice and human rights; and
to build a sustainable environment and protect it from exploitation and
war. Peace education is based on a philosophy that teaches nonviolence,
love, compassion, trust, fairness, tolerance, cooperation and reverence
for the human family and all life on planet earth.

29
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

3.6 The Role of Peace Educators

Peace education is often described as a series of “teaching encounters”

that draw from people their desire for peace, nonviolent alternatives for
managing conflict, and skills for critical analysis of structural
arrangements that produce and legalise injustice and inequality. Page
(2008) therefore suggested that peace education be thought of as
involving a number of tasks such as:
1. encouraging a commitment to peace as a settled disposition and
enhancing the confidence of the individual as an individual agent
of peace;
2. informing the student on the consequences of war and social
injustice;
3. informing the student on the value of peaceful and just social
structures and working to uphold or develop such social
structures;
4. encouraging the student to leave the world and to imagine a
peaceful future; and
5. caring for the student and encouraging the student to care for
others.

Traditional distinctions in peace education are couched in terms of

negative and positive peace. These distinctions can be seen in peace
through strength which uses peacekeeping strategies to deter violence,
peacemaking which helps disputants resolve their conflicts, and
peacebuilding which tries to motivate students to want to be peaceful.

Negative peace education tries to put out fires while positive peace
education tries to stop fires (conflicts) from breaking out in the first
place. Generally, people want immediate solutions to the problems of
violence that they fear. Because peace education provides a long term
solution, is not seen as necessary and is not grabbing the kind of support
that conflict resolution which helps put out fires is getting.

Further distinctions in peace education come from the content of courses

taught, the teachers style, and the skills that students learn in order to
become peaceful people. Peace education content started out by
discussing the causes of war and the attempts of international systems to
avoid war. In Japan, peace education was originally defined narrowly as
‘anti-atomic bomb’ education in line with their experience with the
atomic bombs that were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. More recently, third world perspectives on the variability of
war and its causes has led to a broadening of the notion of peace
education to include the study of the origins of Japanese militarism.
Peace educators around the world are dealing with other issues, e.g.

30
PCR211 MODULE 1

structural violence, cultural violence, personal violence, racism, and

environmental degradation.

Recent studies in the field that relate to the study of war places an
emphasis upon developing a questioning attitude towards the violence of
the status quo and a teaching style that relies upon a dialogue between
teacher and pupil where both of them jointly seek alternatives to
violence. Peace educators produce critical thinkers who question the
emphasis upon the various forms of militarism found all around the
world.

Peace educators seek to establish democratic classrooms that teach

cooperation and promote positive self-esteem among their students.
Teachers serve as peaceful role models to help to counteract images of
violent behaviour young people receive through popular culture (Video,
Internet, Games, Music etc.) and in their homes. Their teaching style
will normally adjust to the developmental needs of their pupils,
respecting the various identities and concerns about violence that
students bring to the classroom.

Educators contribute to making a peaceful person by building in their

students a certain orientation towards peaceful values, beliefs, and
behaviours. A peaceful person should display a certain ‘groundedness’
that implies not being in a constant state of anger and frustration. It is
also the teacher’s work to build the student’s capacity in social skills
and democratic participation.

The skills that peace educators often focus on teaching include verbal
and non-verbal communication, active listening, understanding and
management of different perspectives, cooperation, joint problem
solving, critical thinking, decision making, conflict resolution, and
social responsibility.

Class Activity
1. Why is education important to the development of human
culture?
2. What is peace and how does education promote it?

Self-Assessment Exercise
1. Identify the various stages in the emergence of education.
2. What activities become necessary if we are serious about using
education to promote peace?

31
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

3.7 Summary

Peace can be built outside of classrooms and formal education settings.

Whenever we reflect on the nature of peace, it is usually in relation to
considerations of the factors that bring about its absence or loss
including such critical issues like insecurity, social injustice, economic
inequality, political and religious radicalism, and acute nationalism.
Education can assist mankind to overcome the attitudes and practices in
our culture that threaten peace in our society.

3.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources

Aronson, E. (1995). The Social Animal (7th ed.). New York: Freeman.

Assefa, H., (1996). ‘Peace and reconciliation as a paradigm: A

philosophy of peace and its implications for conflict, governance
and economic growth in Africa’. In: Assefa &

Boutros-Boutros Ghali, ‘An Agenda for Peace, Preventive diplomacy,

Peacemaking and Peace-keeping’; Report of the Secretary-
General pursuant to the statement adopted by the Publishing
Summit Meeting of the Security Council on 31 January 1992.

Broodryk, J. (2006): “Ubuntu African life coping skills: theory and

practice”. Conference Paper delivered at the Recreation Linkages
between Theory and Praxis in Educational Leadership
Conference, South Africa organized by the Commonwealth
Council for Educational Administration and Management
(CCEAM)

Burton, J.W. (1990), Conflict: Human Needs Theory, New York: St.
Martin’s Press.

Christie, D. J., Wagner, R. V., & Winter, D. A. (Eds.). (2001). Peace,

Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology for the 21st Century.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Coser, L.A. (1956), The Functions of Social Conflict, Free Press, New
York and Collier-Macmillan, London.

Deutsch, M. (1973), The Resolution of Conflict: Constructive and

Destructive Processes, New Haven (Connecticut): Yale
University Press.

32
PCR211 MODULE 1

Egan, E. (1999), Peace Be with You: Justified Warfare or the Way of

Nonviolence. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis.

Gluckman, H.M., 1955, Custom and conflict in Africa, London: Oxford

University Press.

Lund M. S, (1997), Preventing and Mitigating Violent Conflicts: A

Revised Guide for Practitioners; Washington DC: Creative
Associates Intl.

Mahoney, M. J. (1990), Human Change Processes; New York: Basic

Books

Monga, C., 1998, The anthropology of anger: The civil society and
democracy in Africa, Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Wachira eds., Peacemaking and democratisation in Africa: Theoretical

perspectives and church initiatives, Nairobi: East African
Educational Publishers, pp. 42-71.

33
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

3.9 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

Answer

1. In view of mankind’s experience with war and violence, a global

movement has emerged which recommends discussion of issues of
peace in education at all levels and in all its forms. According to this
movement, education could be used to teach understanding and respect
for all peoples, their cultures, civilizations, values and ways of life,
including domestic ethnic cultures and cultures of other nations; and
increase awareness of the increasing global interdependence between
peoples and nations.

2. The use of education for the pursuit of peace will thus involve:

1. Training and practice of conflict resolution and

mediation in school systems, among staff and
students, and extension of such knowledge through
community involvement to the rest of society;

2. Linkage of school activities to ongoing activities in

communities that promote participation by all in
culture and development;

3. Incorporation of discussions on social movements,

peace and non-violence, democracy and good
governance into school curricula;

4. Extension of the sense of community to all peoples

with the aim of preserving both the world's cultural
diversity and its ecology for future generations;
5. Systematic review of school curricula to ensure an
approach to ethnic, racial and cultural differences
that emphasizes their equality and unique
contributions to the enrichment of the common
good;

6. Systematic review and renovation of the teaching

of history, to lay more emphasis on non-violent
social change as opposed to military aspects of
history; and

34
PCR211 MODULE 1

35
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

UNIT 4 VALUES AND EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Unit Structure

4.1 Introduction
4.2 Learning Outcomes
4.3 Necessity of Values Education
4.4 Values and UNESCO’s Framework on Education for Peace
4.5 Values and Support for Peace Education
4.6 The Role of Higher Education
4.7 Summary
4.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources
4.9 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

4.1 Introduction

The twentieth century was a hundred years that is marked by extreme

forms of violence. The violence has to do with the values that dominated
world politics at that time especially negative values such as greed,
cynicism, and a false sense of moral superiority on the part of the
superpowers of that era. Rather than continuing in this track, humankind
has strived to discard these negative and archaic values and to replace
them with generosity, tolerance, and faith in humanity itself. Our values
determine our priorities, and on the long run, our actions. Moving from
violence to peace will only be possible if humans change the values that
make violence attractive. Positive values would bring about more
solidarity, faith, compassion, honesty, transparency; and less hypocrisy,
corruption, cynicism, and selfishness.

4.2 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this Unit, the student would be able to:

• Understand the meaning of values

• Appreciate its relationship to education
• Identify values that promote peacefulness and those
that negate it
• Appreciate how Higher education can contribute to
the search for global peace.

36
PCR211 MODULE 1

4.3 Necessity of Values Education

The First World War of 1914-1918 demonstrated how great the level of
distrust and intolerance among the nations of the world is. In the
unstable peace of the 1920s and 1930s, national leaders and peace
advocates began the first tentative steps towards global co-operation and
peaceful coexistence. It was felt even at that time that in order to drive
home the importance of preaching the message of peace, there was a
need for a school which would cater for children with a diversity of
languages and culture and prepare them for higher education in their
home countries.

In 1924, the first international school, the International School of

Geneva was founded by a group of parents predominantly from the
League of Nations and the International Labour Office. Motivated by a
belief in the objectives of both organizations, the parents wanted a
school which would give the child a complete and rounded view of the
world; knowledge and understanding; the love and the desire for peace;
and the feeling of the brotherhood of man.

Many other international schools emerged from 1924, initially for the
utilitarian purpose of working for a better world and sowing the seeds of
peaceful coexistence and in pursuit of the international understanding
that peace should be nurtured and developed in the hearts of young
people so that they will mature into the idea that peace is a necessity for
continued human existence.

While the focus on human virtues and spiritual truths originated from
philosophers, religious thinkers and teachers, the concept of human
values became the subject of study by social psychologists,
anthropologists and educators in the last decades of the 1900’s. The
development of the contemporary values theory may be viewed as a step
towards the professionalization of values development as a discipline in
the social and behavioral sciences that focus on the scientific study of
human behavior and its underlying motivations.

Studies on identification and listing of universally shared values and

group values; world views and consciousness shifts; classifications of
values into instrumental and terminal; dominant, core and supporting;
themes and clusters; values development theories such as values
clarification, moral development, hierarchy of values as needs and
motivations of human behavior, paved the way to the development of a
values education program.

37
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

In 1990, the Jomtien Declaration of Education for All defined basic

education as the fundamental knowledge, values and attitudes, skills and
competencies needed for an individual to survive, to live and work in
dignity, and to continue learning. The 2000 Dakar Framework of Action
is committed to improving all aspects of the quality of education and
ensuring excellence of all, through diversification of contents and
methods, and the promotion of universally shared values. The global
educational community also declared in the UNESCO medium-term
plan of 1992-1998 that values education should be an integral part of
basic education.

After the signing of the 1994 Geneva Declaration and Framework for
Action on Education for Peace, the UNESCO-Asia-Pacific Network for
International Education and Values Education, began to fund the writing
of sourcebooks and the training of teachers for education on the values
of peace, human rights, democracy and sustainable development, as well
as on the valuing process. This is well captured by the declaration of
year 2000 as the International Year of a Culture of Peace by the UN.
According to the body, a culture of peace is the “set of values, attitudes,
modes of behaviour and ways of life that reflect and inspire respect for
life and all human rights.” This is followed by rejection of violence and
devotion to the principles of freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance,
cooperation, pluralism, dialogue and understanding among diverse
groups of peoples (Article 1).

The Delors Commission’s 1996 Report to UNESCO titled ‘Learning:

The Treasure Within’ highlighted the challenges posed by our rapidly
changing world and the major tensions that we face as a global
community. It proposed a new educational paradigm of Lifelong
Education—learning how to learn, based on the four pillars of
education: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and
learning to be—as the master key to meeting the challenges of the
century and concluded that education should be viewed as an important
tool for personal and social development, as well as an instrument for
peace and tolerance, non-violence and promotion of understanding
among the nations of the world.

4.4 Values and UNESCO’s Framework on Education for

Peace

In principle, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights which was

adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December
10, 1948 is a non-binding instrument. However, since the adoption
Article 26 of the Declaration deals with the right to education, it has
gained wide approval and acceptance. Paragraph 2 stipulates the aims of
education and reads: “Education shall be directed to the full

38
PCR211 MODULE 1

development of the human personality and to the strengthening of

respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote
understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or
religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations
for the maintenance of peace”.

Some elements in the paragraph such as those relating to the full

development of the human personality and the promotion of
understanding, tolerance and friendship among people are important
from the perspective of education for peace. Since 1948, this clause has
been cited and elaborated many times in other international human
rights documents, such as treaties and recommendations. Some of these
texts have a universal scope and were drafted within the framework of
the United Nations and UNESCO.

The UNESCO Declaration and Integrated Framework for Action on

Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy was the outcome of
the 44th session on the International Conference on Education that took
place in 1995. The declaration, reflected the need to remove obstacles to
peace such as "violence, racism, xenophobia, aggressive nationalism",
as well as human rights violations, religious intolerance, and the wide
gap between the rich and the poor. The declaration stressed the
importance of education in the development of individuals who will
promote peace, human rights and democracy (UNESCO, 1995:4).

The framework envisages that as one of the comprehensive strategies

for achieving a culture of peace, education must cover a diverse range of
human interests and perspectives; it must involve educational partners,
and it must utilize administrative modes that allow for greater
autonomy. In addition, education must be continuous and consistent,
implemented locally, nationally and internationally and include proper
resources. It also envisages that the content of education should include
education for citizenship at an international level and address the
conditions necessary for the construction of peace, including conflict
resolution, human rights, democracy, an end to racism, and the
elimination of sexism.

According to the framework, "the ultimate goal of education for peace,

human rights and democracy is that every individual should develop a
sense of universal values and types of behavior on which a culture of
peace is predicated" because it is "possible to identify even in different
socio-cultural contexts values that are likely to be universally
recognized" (p. 9).

Peace education utilizes a broad definition of violence which includes

war, physical abuse, emotional abuse, torture, killings, oppression and

39
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

exploitation. To further distinguish between types of violence, peace

researcher Johann Galtung developed the concepts of direct violence,
structural violence, and cultural violence. Examples of direct violence
are: war, torture, fighting, armed violence, as well as physical and
emotional abuse. Although it began as a study of the causes of war and
its prevention, peace education has developed into the study of violence
in all its manifestations. It seeks to educate people to replace a
preference for war with a preference for peace at both the structural and
individual levels.

The content and the methodology of peace education thus promote free
learning environments, open inquiry and significant learner
participation. Peace educators therefore endorse the power of education
as a means of transforming society. By creating an awareness of the
links between structural violence and direct violence, these educators
strive to make way for a peaceful future.

4.5 Values and Support for Peace Education

Understanding and support for peace education has become very

necessary. Although general acknowledgement that the world is in crisis
stems from a long history of structural violence, peace educators have
long recognized that popular support for peace education arises from an
attempt to avoid further economic, social and environmental crises and
the more direct threats to national and economic security. The relevance
of peace education derives not just from its focus on outbreaks of
violence in the form of war, terrorism, human rights abuses and so on,
but also because it attempts to address long-standing and chronic threats
to human security.

Peace education is holistic and transformative. As a multi-disciplinary

field of study, peace education encourages people to seek long-term
responses to conflict in order to create more just and sustainable futures
(Hicks, 1988). This is why Reardon stated that education for peace is
"education for the long haul and for ongoing struggle" (Reardon,
1988:47). By promoting the development of skills on how to cooperate
and resolve conflict non-violently, peace education functions to promote
the development of a global consciousness that will enable us to
function as global citizens and to transform the present human condition
that is characterized by violence by changing the structures of society.

The concept of peace education incorporates a variety of knowledge,

skills and attitudes for interpreting ideas as well as developing deep and
participatory capacities for applying knowledge to overcome problems
and achieve possibilities (Reardon, 1999). Peace education emphasizes
raising the consciousness of learners as a means for bringing about

40
PCR211 MODULE 1

social change. Raising of consciousness may involve learning to

perceive social, political and economic contradictions and taking action
against oppressive elements of reality. According to Freire (1970: 51),
this awareness is necessary because “as long as the oppressed remain
unaware of the causes of their condition, they fatalistically ‘accept’ their
exploitation”.

Because of its radical nature, peace education has generated resistance

because those in power want to preserve the status quo, and they are
keen to utilize education for that purpose. However, steady progress is
being made and gradual acceptance of peace education can be seen in
many countries. A survey of different peace education applications by
Bar-Tal (2000) shows a variety of formats, objectives, settings and
designs. Peace education initiatives are linked to popular education,
efforts that are focused on conflict resolution and democracy education,
programs that address intercultural understanding and projects that deal
with disarmament and anti-war education. In each setting, peace
education does not function as a tool for brainwashing the people;
instead, it reflects the peculiar needs and desires of the local population.
In view of the various crises that trouble Africa, including hunger,
malnutrition, absence of social services, state failure, state weakness and
state collapse, widespread violence and corruption, peace education
should be seen as a basic necessity. Specific programs on conflict
resolution and peace advocacy should be targeted at children, families,
schools and communities in line with the specific problems that are
present in each locality. There are a few examples within West Africa.
For instance, the Concerned Youth for Peace in Sierra Leone formed in
1996 by young men and women who believe in the promotion of
international co-operation and peaceful solution of conflicts strives to
unite organizations and individuals committed to the peace process
through educational programming, materials, and a sharing of ideas and
resources while a similar non-formal youth program in Nigeria utilizes
music and drama to promote peaceful interaction and personal
understanding among youths.

4.6 The Role of Institutions in Values Education

All levels of education have essential roles to play in the achievement of

the goals of education for peace. From primary to secondary levels, as
well as the centers for research and development of new ideas, colleges
and universities, have great potentials for finding creative solutions to
the most challenging problems facing humanity in the fields of
development, disarmament, conflict resolution, politics and economics.
Although, institutions of higher learning served as the catalysts for most
of the positive development in the world during the last millennium,

41
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

involving both primary and secondary institutions will also go a long

way to improve the contribution for positive development and the rest.

Colleges and universities have a duty to educate political and

community leaders. It is a fact that a majority of the political, economic,
business and social leaders in the world have college degrees.
Institutions of learning should therefore spend some time in examining
the type of leadership they encourage among their students right from
cradle, and create well thought-out principles and guidelines for this
important aspect of the education they offer. In this category is the
required study of ethics, encouragement of community service, and
regular discussions of the meaning and demands of leadership within
each department, faculty, and the students themselves. Higher education
needs, therefore, to involve students in a real search for the essence of
principled leadership.

Another way that institutions of learning can contribute to justice and

peace in the world is by reaching out to non-traditional students and
those from other countries, who have much to offer in terms of life
experience and much to gain from formal education. Academic
institutions must not distance themselves from practical, every-day
realities. Rather, they must creatively engage with both their local
communities and the international community.

All human beings have it within their power to do something that will
secure the peace. The poets must write peace, the politicians must
legislate about peace. Soldiers and militants must lay down their
weapons. The teachers must pass the legacy of peace to our school
children, and parents must lead by the example they set at home. The
hope of the world is in children, they should be taught the culture of
peace from early stages of learning, but this does not mean that we
should leave the activities that could promote a better future until
tomorrow. The future begins today, with us, in our hearts and in our
homes.

Peace is created when people come together; therefore, the more we

allow ourselves to be touched by the troubling realities of our day and
get involved in finding solutions, the more achievable peace will be. A
diverse student body can add a great deal of richness to the educational
experience. Everyone who graduates from an institution of learning
should be able to say that they have had conversations with someone of
a different race, someone who speaks a different language, someone of a
different religion, and someone whose political views is different from
their own. Ideally, some of these conversations will turn into friendships
and become the basis for the building of bridges between people of
different backgrounds and life experiences. In the same way that bridges

42
PCR211 MODULE 1

and highways connect us physically, bridges of friendship and

understanding should connect us in spirit. It is these invisible bridges
that will help us to create and sustain peace in our world.

Class Activity
1. What is a value?
2. Which values should be emphasized in the study of peace
education?

Self-Assessment Exercise
1. What are the key components of UNESCO’s framework for
peace education?
2. Why is the teaching of peace education critical at the level of
higher education?

4.7 Summary

In this unit, we have examined the place of values in education generally

and peace education in particular. We have also attempted to establish
the need for linkages between UNESCO’s framework on education for
peace and the mindset of those who design curricula in peace education
in our institutions of higher learning. We also attempted to establish the
fact that institutions of higher learning actually have a duty to educate
political and community leaders.

4.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources

Anderson, Margaret, et al. eds. (1999) Helping Increase the Peace:

Program Manual, Baltimore: The American Friends Service
Committee Middle Atlantic Region.

Arnow, Jan (1995) Teaching Peace: How to Raise Children to Live in

Harmony – Without Fear, Without Prejudice, Without Violence,
New York: The Berkley Publishing Group.

Bush, D Keneth and Diana Saltarelli (1996) The Two Faces of

Education in Ethnic Conflict, Florence (Italy): Innocenti
Research Centre.

Fountain, S. (1997) Education for Conflict Resolution: A Training for

Trainers Manual, New York: UNICEF.

43
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

Hoose, Phillip (1993) It’s Our World, Too: Stories of Young People
Who are Making a Difference, Toronto: Little Brown &
Company Limited.

Kreidler, J William (1991) Teaching Concepts of Peace and Conflict:

Elementary Perspectives, Cambridge: Educators for Social
Responsibility.

Kreidler, J William (1997) A Curriculum and Teacher’s Guide: Conflict

Resolution in the Middle School, Cambridge: Educators for
Social Responsibility.

Prutzman, Priscilla, et al. (1988) The Friendly Class Room for a Small
Planet: Children’s Creative Response to Conflict Program,
Toronto: New Society Publishers.

Silberman, M. and C. Auerbach (1990) Active Training: Design, Case

Examples and Tips; New York: Lexington Books.

UNICEF (1998) Report of the International Workshop on Mutual

Understanding and Conflict Resolution, Kuala
Lumpur:UNESCO.

44
PCR211 MODULE 1

4.9 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

1. “Education shall be directed to the full development of the human

personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and
friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further
the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace”.

2. All levels of education have essential roles to play in the

achievement of the goals of education for peace. From primary to
secondary levels, as well as the centers for research and development of
new ideas, colleges and universities, have great potentials for finding
creative solutions to the most challenging problems facing humanity in
the fields of development, disarmament, conflict resolution, politics and
economics.

Another way that institutions of learning can contribute to justice and

peace in the world is by reaching out to non-traditional students and
those from other countries, who have much to offer in terms of life
experience and much to gain from formal education.

45
PCR211 MODULE 2

MODULE 2 PEACE IN HUMAN SOCIETIES

Unit 1 Peace in Everyday Conversation

Unit 2 Types of Peace
Unit 3 Components of Peace
Unit 4 Dimensions of Peace

UNIT 1 PEACE IN EVERYDAY CONVERSATION

Unit Structure

1.1 Introduction
1.2 Learning Outcomes
1.3 Peace as Cooperation
1.4 Peace as Conditioning Factor in Social Outcomes
1.5 Peace as Order
1.6 Peace as Product of Human Solidarity
1.7 Summary
1.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources
1.9 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

1.1 Introduction

In Module 1 Unit 2, we examined the various definitions of peace that

scholars have provided and the perspectives that explain their formation.
In the current Unit, we will attempt to identify how people see the
phenomenon of peace and the significance it holds for people in their
everyday interactions as social animals with ideas and preferences that
sometimes undermine the efforts of individuals and groups to relate with
each other successfully.

Understand how people view and conceive peace

Peace has been defined in various ways. Some people say it is the
absence of conflict or violence, while others relate it to an individual’s
state of mind; a type of situation in which an ideal society will operate in
harmony, security, unity, and understanding; and so on. The last of these
descriptions hints on steps that could be taken in order to achieve peace
that is marked by the absence of violent conflicts or wars at local,
national, regional or continental levels.

It is important for us to examine that personal attitudes, values, and

knowledge provide the basis for working toward peace. While almost all
of us want peace and prefer to live and work in an environment that is
peaceful, few of us have bothered to identify the elements that foster
45
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

peaceful living. We have seldom given thought to what types of beliefs,

traditions, attitudes, and values lead to peaceful coexistence and social
harmony. We have also not devoted quality time to ruminate on whether
it is possible to have global peace if we do not personally have peace in
our lives as individuals.

1.2 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you would be able to:

• Understand how people view and conceive peace

• Understand outcomes of peaceful coexistence among humans
• Understand how peace influences social and political outcomes in
human societies.

1.3 Peace as ‘Cooperation’

While on the one hand peace is an end to be sought it is also a condition

of many achievements. Co-operation is a necessary condition for nearly
all human attainment because for peace to reign, people have to learn to
rely on one another. The inverse side of co-operation includes, among
others:
• The destruction brought about by force and
violence;
• The waste of scarce resources in war or during the
preparation for war;
• The distraction from human welfare as resources
are committed to buying weapons rather than food
or provision of social services;
• The loss of lives and property when disagreements
become unmanageable;
• The abuse of fundamental freedoms and disrespect
for the rule of law, and so on.

This view of peace as cooperation between individuals and entities

tallies with the concept of dynamic peace or peace that is being worked
for which will be discussed later on during discussions on peace as
process. Cooperation discourages an understanding of peace as a ‘soft
state’ in which hard decisions, social change and deteriorating relations
between groups can be avoided. In other words, it is not an approach to
peace that ignores the element of conflict in human situations.

46
PCR211 MODULE 2

Conflict is unavoidable where persons and groups are opposed to one

another and where differing interests and needs remain in contention.
What is crucial is not that conflict will disappear but that it is dealt with
in a way that will not destroy social cohesion or lead to injustice. In
other words, what is essential to the making of peace is that competition
be carried on in mutual openness and learning, and that people accept
the stimulus of challenge and difference. Such capacity to cope with
conflict means that peace can quickly be restored even in situations
where violence has become manifest.

1.4 Peace as Conditioning Factor in Social Outcomes

One of the problems of distinguishing the features of peace is that peace

is a conditioning rather than a separate factor in political and social
behaviour. Although individuals may say publicly or express a belief
that they are pursuing the path of peace in their relationship with others,
what may be happening in reality is that they are either: trying to secure
a guarantee that their interests will be protected in the process of relating
with others; trying to construct a balance of power and interests; or
ensuring that there is freedom to make free and informed choices in
matters related to their own future. Yet, because peace so pervasively
about conditions and situations that appear desirable, there is a
temptation to define peace in terms of all that is good. However, it is a
fact that whenever peace is associated with only things that are
cherished, it will not be possible to distinguish peace from other social
values that are cherished.

1.5 Peace as ‘Order’

If we put together the structural and psychological indicators of peace

and see them especially as conditioning factors, we may then conclude
that peace is more of an orientation than a specific content of nature. It is
our approach to handling differences that allows creativity, reciprocity
and co-ordination (and therefore peace) to prevail in human affairs.
Peacefulness also ensures that human affairs can be carried on without
disruption.

Peace is one of many human achievements, or put differently, a part of

overall human achievement. There can be achievements without peace
but they tend to be threatened, fragile and distorted without order. For
the most part, peace is needed to set other human achievements free and
for societies to develop meaningfully for the benefit of those who live in
such societies.

In this connection St. Augustine’s stress on order (and peace as the

tranquility of order) is instructive. On the one hand, peace is one

47
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

element of order but there are many others. On the other hand, order
does not exist on its own because it only describes the relationship
between things: elaboration of means to achieve given ends; agreeable
relations between the parts of a social whole or community; and
acceptable styles of living and behaviour. This functioning of peaceful
order is structural peace insofar as structure is taken to mean orderly
relations.

While peace (or peaceful relations) is structural in an objective sense, it

has obvious psychological elements. There are linkages with the positive
and negative dimensions of peace. Where positive peace (working co-
operation, intact community, and broad and tolerant agreement on living
styles) is present, there is a mental contentment or satisfaction in the
harmony of established order among people. Where negative peace (the
absence of force and violence) is present, there is temporary relief that
fear of harm, disruption and unpleasantness or actual harm do not exist
or have been removed.

1.6 Peace as a Product of Human Solidarity

The point has been made by scholars in the humanities and beyond that
in so far as humans remain competitive and aggressive by nature, there
will always be wars different levels of conflicts over needs and wants
(desires). However, a closer look at human nature will readily reveal the
fact that despite a tendency to compete, sometimes aggressively and
thereby threaten the cohesion of their social group or society, they also
naturally seek the friendship and cooperation of others who are close to
them. This tendency to reach out to others suggests a realisation that
they can only attain fulfilment when they learn to collaborate with one
another.

Collective action (solidarity) in the pursuit of peace has multiple effects.

One is the power for change that increases with comprehensiveness of
actions and mutual support in them. Another effect is increased
awareness of common interests and goals, which contribute to friendship
during those engagements and subsequent desire for sustaining such
relationship. Maintenance of focus during difficult situations that
threaten collective aspirations and interests is another effect of unity in
the pursuit of peace. Ultimately, initiation of action is an important
effect of solidarity. Observers of conflict who join in a collective action
develop motivation for continued participation in connection-based
pursuits of peace, and very so often, for individual peace activism. The
effect of collective courage, especially in the face of potential or actual
violence should also not be overlooked.

48
PCR211 MODULE 2

Solidarity for peace has been sustained for decades through shared
ideology and philosophies. Transformations resulting from collective
actions that are focused on peace have ranged from awareness-raising
for participants and observers to small or large change, such as
revolution. Our interdependence in peace development and our
capability for cooperation in a united response to conflict remind us of
the power we have to bring about change, and connect with others for
solidarity in the pursuit of peace to increase our power for change
without violence.

The breakdown of this collaboration is a distortion of the natural order.

The uneasy or bitter feeling that normally accompanies a quarrel or a
fight also support this point because no creature feels uneasy in its
natural state. If humans feel so uneasy when they quarrel or fight, it may
be because it is not natural for them to fight or quarrel. This is as true of
individual persons as it is of nations, and other human groupings.

Class Activity

1. Using Nigeria’s elections as example, discuss the relationship

between social outcomes and peace

Self-Assessment Exercise
1.What is the relationship between social order and peace? Use concrete
examples from your local setting.
2. What is the difference between peace when conceived as
“cooperation” and when it is seen as a product of “solidarity”?

1.7 Summary

In this unit, we have examined the multifarious dimensions of peace

when used within particular contexts. We have examined the various
senses in which peace scholars, philosophers and others have defined it
and through this, we have identified supportive aspects and tasks as well
as factors that may jeopardize peace. In addition, we have examined the
relationship between peace, tranquility and order as they relate to human
welfare.

49
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

1.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources

Bull, H. (1977) The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World

Politics. New York: Columbia University Press.

Ceadel, M. (1987) Thinking about Peace and War. Oxford: Oxford

University Press.

Childress, J., “Just-War Theories”; Theological Studies 39 (1978),

pp.427-45.

Christopher, P. (1994) The Ethics of War and Peace: An Introduction to

Legal and Moral Issues. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Damrosch, L. ed. (1993) Enforcing Restraint: Collective Intervention in

Internal Conflicts. New York: Council on Foreign Relations.

Hampson, F.O. (1996) Nurturing Peace: Why Peace Settlements

Succeed or Fail. Washington, DC: United States Institute for
Peace.

Human Rights Watch (1995), Slaughter Among Neighbours. New

Haven: Yale University Press.

Johnson, J. T. (1987) The Quest for Peace. Princeton, NJ: Princeton

University Press.

Osgood, R. and R. Tucker, eds. (1967) Force, Order and

Justice;Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Thompsnon, K.W. (1960) Political Realism and the Crisis of World

Politics; Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

50
PCR211 MODULE 2

1.9 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

Answer

1. If we put together the structural and psychological indicators of peace

and see them especially as conditioning factors, we may then conclude
that peace is more of an orientation than a specific content of nature. It is
our approach to handling differences that allows creativity, reciprocity
and co-ordination (and therefore peace) to prevail in human affairs.
Peacefulness also ensures that human affairs can be carried on without
disruption.

individuals may say publicly or express a belief that they are pursuing
the path of peace in their relationship with others, what may be
happening in reality is that they are either: trying to secure a guarantee
that their interests will be protected in the process of relating with
others; trying to construct a balance of power and interests; or ensuring
that there is freedom to make free and informed choices in matters
related to their own future.

2. Collective action (solidarity) in the pursuit of peace has multiple

effects. One is the power for change that increases with
comprehensiveness of actions and mutual support in them. Another
effect is increased awareness of common interests and goals, which
contribute to friendship during those engagements and subsequent desire
for sustaining such relationship. Maintenance of focus during difficult
situations that threaten collective aspirations and interests is another
effect of unity in the pursuit of peace.

51
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

UNIT 2 TYPES OF PEACE

Unit Structure

2.1 Introduction
2.2 Learning Outcomes
2.3 Types of Peace
2.4 Positive Peace
2.5 Negative Peace
2.6 Active Peace
2.7 Summary
1.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources
1.9 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s) Exercise

2.1 Introduction

When applied in a positive sense, the idea of peace involves voluntary

cooperation among individuals and groups for the attainment of material
and non-material objectives that may include security, justice and
freedom. When applied negatively, peace only seeks to eliminate the use
of force and violence for the attainment of any number of objectives.
However, planning for peace requires attention not only to factors that
produce “negative peace” (stopping active violence) but also to those
that contribute to “positive peace” (building peaceful relations within
and between societies).

2.2 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you would be able to:

• Tell the difference between positive and negative peace

• Understand the basic components and dimensions of peace
• Identify what “peace generating factors” are
• Assess the relationship between peace and similar concepts.

2.3 Types of Peace

There are situations where people are not exposed to any form of
physical or direct attack, threat of attack or violence. Yet, they are not at
peace especially within themselves. In such instances, it becomes
difficult for them to attain a feeling of self-fulfillment because their
sense of security is being eroded underneath by factors that are not

52
PCR211 MODULE 2

easily seen on the outside such as structural forms of violence that is

embedded in the way their society organizes itself or different forms of
relative deprivations that makes it difficult for them to attain their
highest possible potential.

Martin Luther King, Jr., once addressed the question of peace in a

pointed way when he remarked that “true peace is more than the absence
of war; it is the presence of justice.” For Galtung, different types of
peace apply when we talk about the absence of violence on the one
hand, and the presence of social justice, which he equates with equality
on the other.

Diversity of perspectives makes it difficult for a widely-accepted

definition or even dimension of peace to emerge. For this reason, some
“peace thinkers” have reasoned that there is no simple or single way to
look at peace. They therefore promote the idea that since individuals and
groups pursue several “peaces” at any point in time, no singular
dimension of peace can exist and that peace should be perceived as
occurring in plurality and not, as previously thought, a singular
dimension. This led them to come up with the idea of ‘positive’ and
‘negative’ peace.

In conformity with the discussion in the previous Unit, positive

definitions of peace are often based on four key indices (Burgess &
Burgess, 1997:230-1):
• Peace as harmony (Stressing the absence of
conflict)
• Peace as order (Stressing stability)
• Peace as justice (Stressing the absence of
domination and poverty) and
• Peace as conflict management (Stressing peace as a
process for obtaining interests and needs, rather
than as an end in itself).

2.4 Positive Peace

Positive peace obtains in a situation where there is the absence of war

and direct violence on the one hand, and the active practice of social
justice, good governance, protection of human security and the Rule of
Law on the other. Others also say that positive peace refers in addition,
to the absence of structural and cultural violence. The existence of
positive peace is a situation best described to the case of the “happy
slave”, who having been told he is free, tells his master that he/she “does
not want to be free”.

53
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

‘
Positive peace’ is a concept found in the writings of Martin Luther King
Jr. and Johan Galtung indicating the absence of what Galtung popularly
referred to as “structural violence” which contributes to reducing the
potential life-span of human beings below what it might otherwise be.
Under positive peace, there is usually an active presence of conflict
management institutions that deal with social conflicts in fair and non-
destructive ways.

A major step in ensuring positive peace would be to provide what

Burton described as ‘Basic Human Needs’—adequate food, clothing and
shelter—for everyone. Beyond that, the enormous difference in wealth
may need to be reduced and progress made in the areas of healthcare
provisions, sanitation, education, employment, and democratization of
governance.

Positive peace is possible or attainable in a situation where actions that

protect many people’s fundamental values and enhance their self-
esteem, and thereby provide happiness, satisfaction, and justice are
consciously promoted. For this reason, positive peace is not only
freedom from violence, but also peace of mind. Social justice is the core
element of positive peace. We shall examine each of these components
in turns.

2.5 Negative Peace

Negative peace refers to the absence of direct violence even where other
forms of visible threats exist. This is usually likened to a case where a
despotic king rules a seemingly peaceful empire but his rule is only
tolerated because it does not foster a sense of peace. Apart from direct
(overt) violence, such as direct attacks, massacres and genocide, there
are also other forms of violence that are structural in nature. These are
seen in cases where death occurs as a result of avoidable reasons such as
malnutrition, extra-judicial killings, human rights violations, etc.

Negative peace defines a situation where a person’s interests, dignity or

self-esteem is not protected; an order that is characterized by
exploitation, repression, and tyranny. Negative peace or the absence of
force and violence, is also necessary in order that people will enjoy their
lives without molestation or obstruction.

It means the prevention or removal of physical, psychological or moral

forms of violence which is very important if people are to live their lives
to the fullest. The need to avoid force and violence, especially the
organized force and violence of war, has been a key reason why groups
that may not have great likeness or affection for one another do their

54
PCR211 MODULE 2

best possible to remain at peace. Yet such negative peace may turn into
cooperation and friendship of positive peace with time.

Galtung’s alternative vision of positive peace, requires not only that all
types of violence be minimal or non-existent, but also that the major
potential causes of future conflict be removed. In other words, positive
peace encompasses an ideal of how society should be, but the details of
such a vision are often implied. A society that is experiencing positive
peace would have:
• An active and egalitarian civil society;
• An inclusive democratic political structures and
processes; and
• An open and accountable system of governance.

Working towards these objectives opens up the field of peacebuilding

far more widely, to include the promotion and encouragement of new
forms of citizenship and political participation to develop active
democracies. It also opens up the fundamental question of how an
economy is to be managed, with what kind of state intervention, and in
whose interests.

In the long run, negative peace, which is put in place by sheer

overwhelming force does not help us to have a more secure and humane
world. While it is possible that we may prevent or end a war by violent
means, the problem that we may be overlooking in the process is that the
seeds of the next war will only remain dormant, while awaiting the right
opportunity to germinate and come to the surface to commence another
cycle of violence.

It is for this reason those who value and cherish peace are much more
reluctant to go to war; and even when they are forced to go to war, they
seek to implement those values that respect freedom and justice and
provide hope for peace and security and to that extent, a quick
termination or cessation of hostilities. A diagrammatic representation of
the linkage between the two types of conflicts is presented below:

55
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

Diagram: The extended concepts of violence and peace (Source: Johan

Galtung, Essays in Peace Research, vol. I, Copenhagen: Christian
Ejlers, 1975, p. 130).

2.6 Active Peace

Borrowing from the teachings of Johan Galtung, on ‘Positive Peace’,

and on the writings of Quaker Gray Cox, a consortium of researchers
has developed what they describe as a theory of “Active Peace”. This
theory posits that Peace is part of a triad, which includes justice and
wholeness (or well-being), which tallies with scholarly interpretations of
the early Hebrew word ‘Shalom’ which has been interpreted to mean
salvation, justice, and peace. Furthermore, the consortium integrated
Galtung’s teaching of the meanings of the terms peacemaking,
peacekeeping, and peacebuilding, to also fit into the triadic formulation.
John V. Wilmerding, Jr., also followed this line of reasoning and posits
five stages of growth applicable to individuals, communities, and
societies that enables one to transcend first the ‘surface’ awareness that
most people have of these kinds of issues. When this happens, the
individual emerge successively into Acquiescence, Pacifism, Passive
resistance, Active resistance, and finally, Active Peace. When they reach
the last stage, they will find it easy to dedicate themselves to
peacemaking, peacekeeping, and/or peace building.

Class Activity
1.What basic typologies will a synthesis of positive and negative peace
reveals?

Self-Assessment Exercise
1.What are the basic differences between positive and negative peace?
2.There can be peace even where negative peace exists”. Discuss.

2.7 SUMMARY

The fallacy that peace can be defined in terms of the single factor like
the “absence of war,” has been debunked by theories that argue that a
number of other conditions, such as absence of structural violence and
relative deprivations are of equal importance in addition to respect for
56
PCR211 MODULE 2

the Rule of Law, good governance, and Human Rights principles. While
the absence of war remains a necessary condition for all peace
definitions, it is no longer a sufficient one in most formulations of peace.

2.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources

Blau, P.M. & Golden, R.M. (1986), Metropolitan structure and criminal
violence. Sociological Quarterly, 27(1), 15-26.

Box, S (1987), Recession, Crime and Punishment; London: Macmillan.

Galtung, J. (1969), Violence, peace and peace research. Journal of

Peace Research, 6(3), 167-191.

Hansmann, H.B. & J.M. Quigley (1982), Population heterogeneity and

the socio-genesis of homicide; Social Forces 61(2), 206-204.

Jacobs, D & O'Brien, R.M. (1998), The determinants of deadly force: A

structural analysis of police violence. American Journal of
Sociology, 103(4), 837-862.

Jock Young (1999), The Exclusive Society; London: Sage

Johan Galtung, “Violence, Peace, and Peace Research,” Journal of

Peace Research, Vol. 6, No. 3 (1969), pp. 167-191

Kathleen Ho: “Structural Violence as a Human Rights Violation”; Essex

Human Rights Review Vol. 4 No. 2, September 2007.

Rogers, J.D., Spencer, J., & Uyangoda, J. (1998), Sri Lanka: Political
violence and ethnic conflict. American Psychologist, 53(7), 771-
777.

T. R. Gurr (1970), Why Men Rebel; Princeton: Princeton University

Press.

W G Runciman (1966), Relative Deprivation and Social Justice; New

York: Routledge.

57
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

2.9 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

Answer

Positive peace obtains in a situation where there is the absence of war

and direct violence on the one hand, and the active practice of social
justice, good governance, protection of human security and the Rule of
Law on the other. Others also say that positive peace refers in addition,
to the absence of structural and cultural violence.

Negative peace refers to the absence of direct violence even where other
forms of visible threats exist. This is usually likened to a case where a
despotic king rules a seemingly peaceful empire but his rule is only
tolerated because it does not foster a sense of peace. Apart from direct
(overt) violence, such as direct attacks, massacres and genocide, there
are also other forms of violence that are structural in nature

58
PCR211 MODULE 2

UNIT 3 COMPONENTS OF PEACE

Unit Structure

3.1 Introduction
3.2 Learning Outcomes
3.3 Components of Positive Peace
3.3.1 Social Justice
3.3.2 Human Rights
3.3.3 Good Governance
3.3.4 Human Security
3.4 Components of Negative Peace
3.4.1 Structural Violence
3.4.2 Relative Deprivation
3.4.3 Social Injustice
3.5 Synthesis of Positive and Negative Peace
3.6 Summary
3.7 References/Further Readings/Web Resources
3.8 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise

3.1 Introduction

In the previous Module, we laid out the key issues that are implicated in
any attempt to capture the essence of peace and the three types that have
been identified by peace scholars. Consequently, we will turn our
attention to the key components of the two main types of conflict that
were identified and attempt to clarify the reasons why they constitute, in
one way or the other, important factors that need to be consciously noted
by policy makers and the larger society itself. We will attempt to
synthesize both types in order to capture the perceptions that have
shaped explanations of peace across the ages.

Usually, peace exists where people are able to secure certain basic
purposes. For example, we want society to function in such a way that it
will fulfill our needs for different aspects of security, welfare, and
freedom; we want it to form a social whole within which we can identify
with and be supported by others; and, we want social living and habits to
be fine-tuned to our tastes. To achieve these personalised objectives, we
seek to exercise some control over our own lives, the lives of those we
relate with, and the environment within which we live. We also accept
that others may exercise some control over us.

Where individuals and groups find it difficult to achieve these

objectives, peace is endangered. For this reason, one might say that the
basic dangers to peace come from a combination of three factors:
59
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

1. An excess of competition for ends that are valued;

2. a lack of adequate communication between those competing
excessively; and
3. a consequent breakdown of trust among individuals and groups
who are living in close proximity.

Excessive competition threatens group coherence and creates the fears

that trigger violence and lack of communication; it causes groups to see
one another through unfavorable and often derogatory lenses and
stereotypes. In such circumstances, it is almost impossible to create or
sustain conditions of political and social confidence and peaceful
coexistence.

3.2 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• Identify and list the components of positive peace

• Identify and list the components of negative peace
• Understand the types of perspectives that have
emerged from a synthesis of both positive and
negative peace by peace scholars.

3.3 Components of Positive Peace

Whenever we hear the word “positive peace”, we need to ponder on the

factors that make people to perceive a particular typology of peace as
“positive” or “negative” and why those who make the authoritative
decisions that guard social relations would need to be mindful of these
factors. The factors that we will be considering under each type are by
no means exhaustive. The facilitator may wish to elicit responses from
the class on other factors that they could identify and take some time to
discuss it with them. In the case of positive peace, the factors that are
germane include:

3.3.1 Social Justice

Social justice is a term that is commonly used to describe a society with

many policies aimed toward achieving equality of opportunity and
equality of outcome.

What is usually intended by the term is a consideration of the

requirements of justice applied to the benefits and burdens of a common
existence, and in this sense social justice is a matter of distribution. But

60
PCR211 MODULE 2

the particular emphasis in ‘social justice’ is on the foundational

character of justice in social life. Thus, social justice defines the
framework within which particular applications of distributive justice
arise.

Social justice is described in much of John Rawls' writing and it is a

concept that some use to describe the movement towards a socially just
world. In this context, social justice is based on the concepts of human
rights and equality. In his writings on social justice, Rawls draws on the
utilitarian arguments of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, the social
contract ideas of John Locke, and the categorical imperative ideas of
Emmanuel Kant. His first statement of principle was made in his work A
Theory of Justice published in 1971where he argued that “Each person
possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of
society as a whole cannot override”.

All societies have a basic structure of formal and informal social,

economic, and political institutions. In testing how well these elements
fit and work together, Rawls based a key test of legitimacy on the
theories of social contract. To determine whether any particular system
of collectively enforced social arrangements is legitimate, he argued that
one must look for agreement by the people who are subject to it, but not
necessarily to an objective notion of justice based on coherent
ideological grounding. Social injustice is caused by certain barriers that
prevent full social justice such as prejudice, discrimination, oppression,
racism, classism, and sexism.

3.3.2 Human Rights

As mentioned above that social justice is based on the concepts of

human rights and equality which makes them to be interrelated.
According to Rawls, the basic liberties that serve as indicators in a
society where social justice exist include: freedom of thought; liberty of
conscience as it affects social relationships on the grounds of religion,
philosophy, and morality; political liberties (e.g. representative
democratic institutions, freedom of speech and the press, and freedom of
assembly); freedom of association; freedoms necessary for the liberty
and integrity of the person (i.e., freedom from slavery, freedom of
movement and a reasonable degree of freedom to choose one's
occupation); and rights and liberties covered by the rule of law. All the
above mentioned are elements of human rights which are very essential
to the fundamentals of positive peace.

Societies that respect and protect human rights to large extent build
platforms that will enhance positive peace, and with the adoption of the

61
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by nations of the

world, the workings toward positive peace should not be a mirage.
3.3.3 Good Governance

Good governance ensures that political, social and economic priorities

are based on a broad societal agreement and that the poorest and most
vulnerable people have a voice in decision-making over how
development resources are allocated. Governance describes the process
of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented
(or not implemented). Hereby, public institutions conduct public affairs,
manage public resources, and guarantee the realization of human rights.
Good governance accomplishes this in a manner essentially free of
abuse and corruption, and with due regard for the rule of law.

Good governance can be understood as a set of characteristics which

include participation, rule of law, transparency, responsiveness,
consensus orientation, equity and inclusiveness, effectiveness and
efficiency, and accountability. These characteristics assure that
corruption is minimized in the society, the views of minorities such as
the people of the Niger Delta are taken into account and that the voices
of the most vulnerable in society (especially women) are heard in
decision-making. Good government depends on an ability of elected
persons to exercise power, and to make good decisions over economic,
social, and environmental issues that will be of benefit to the people
over time.

3.3.4 Human Security

Human security is people-centered and focuses on shifting from a

preoccupation with protecting nation-states to protecting individuals in
addition as a way of guaranteeing peace. The important dimensions are
to entail the well-being of individuals and respond to ordinary people's
needs in dealing with sources of threats. In addition to protecting the
state from external aggression, human security would expand the scope
of protection to include a broader range of threats, including
environmental pollution, infectious diseases, and economic deprivation.
The concept of Human security emerged from a post-Cold War, multi-
disciplinary understanding of security involving a number of research
fields, including development studies, international relations, strategic
studies, and human rights and holds that a people-centered view of
security is necessary for national, regional and global stability and
peace. The United Nations Development Programme’s 1994 Human
Development Report recommend that modern States that interested in
ensuring positive peace within their boundaries should provide
guarantees of “freedom from want” and “freedom from fear” for all

62
PCR211 MODULE 2

citizens because it is the best way to tackle the problem of insecurity that
may result in conflict and wars.

“Freedom from fear” becomes possible when a society devotes itself to

protecting individuals from violent conflicts in recognition that the
existence of such threats creates conditions that cause poverty, lack of
state capacity and other forms of problems. It may do this by providing
emergency assistance and become actively involved in conflict
prevention, resolution, and peace-building. However, many African
countries do not acknowledge this responsibility and the failure to do so
led to brutal conflicts such as the Nigerian civil war, and extensive
bloodletting in Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Uganda, and more recently,
Kenya.

Those who champion the “Freedom from want” agenda are however of
the opinion that the threat agenda should look beyond ensuring that
people do not become apprehensive over relationships and their social
status. They suggest therefore that security of citizens should be
broadened to include preventing hunger, disease and mitigating the
effects of natural disasters because these are also inseparable issues that
are at the root of human insecurity and they result in the death of far
more people than war, genocide and terrorism combined. Issues related
to widespread poverty and social exclusion led to civil wars Somalia,
Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The realization of human security involves not only governments, but a

broader participation of different actors, including regional and
international organizations, non-governmental organizations and local
communities. Human security not only protects, but also empowers
people and societies as a means of security. People contribute by
identifying and implementing solutions to insecurity.

3.4 Components of Negative Peace

A number of factors and social practices undermine peace in very subtle

ways that prevents most people from realising that they have such short
or long-term impacts. Theories that have emerged from peace research
show that the “invisible hands” that sometimes instigate violence and
hence, a subversion of peace includes:

3.4.1 Structural Violence

Direct violence like public riots, inter-ethnic conflicts and religious

violence is shocking in itself, but it is the brutality that accompanies it
that usually gets our attention: we notice the loss of lives and destruction
of properties and social ties, and often respond to it by looking for a way

63
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

to reconcile the parties involved. Structural violence, however, is almost

always invisible, embedded in ubiquitous social structures, normalized
by stable institutions and regular experience. Structural violence occurs
whenever people are disadvantaged by political, legal, economic or
cultural traditions. Because they are usually longstanding, structural
inequities usually seem ordinary; the way things are and have always
been. Structured inequities produce suffering and death as often as direct
violence does, though the damage is slower, more subtle, more common,
and more difficult to repair. Throughout the world, poverty is correlated
with infant mortality, infectious disease, and shortened lifespan.
Whenever people are denied access to society’s resources, physical and
psychological violence are likely to occur.

Structural violence is a term that has commonly been ascribed to Johan

Galtung. It denotes a form of violence which corresponds with the
systematic ways in which a given social structure or social institution
kills people slowly by preventing them from meeting their basic needs.
Life spans are reduced when people are socially dominated, politically
oppressed, or economically exploited. Structural violence and direct
violence are highly interdependent. Structural violence inevitably
produces conflict and often direct violence, including family violence,
racial violence; hate crimes, and war.

Organized armed conflict in various parts of the world is easily traced to

structured inequalities. Northern Ireland, for example, has been marked
by economic disparities between Northern Irish Catholics—who have
higher unemployment rates and less formal education—and Protestants.
In Sri Lanka, youth unemployment and underemployment exacerbates
ethnic conflict. In Rwanda, huge disparities between the Hutu and Tutsis
eventually led to ethnic massacres.

In his book Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic, James

Gilligan defines structural violence as “the increased rates of death and
disability suffered by those who occupy the bottom rungs of society, as
contrasted with the relatively lower death rates experienced by those
who are above them.” Gilligan largely describes these “excess deaths”
as products of the stress, shame, discrimination and denigration that
results from lower status. The violence in structural violence is
attributed to the specific organizations of society that indirectly injure or
harm individuals or masses of individuals. In explaining his point of
view on how structural violence affects the health of marginalized
people, anthropologist Paul argued that their sickness is caused by
historically given processes and forces that conspire to constrain them.

Structural violence is indirect violence caused by an unjust social

structure and is not to be equated with an act of God. Hurricane Katrina,

64
PCR211 MODULE 2

which struck the USA in 2005, was described as an “Act of God”, but
the deaths of thousands of impoverished blacks in Darfur area of
southern Sudan are an example of structural violence, since their deaths
were related to imbalance in the way that the Sudanese society is
organised. Lastly, cultural violence is a form of violence that occurs as a
result of the cultural assumptions that prevent people from seeing direct
or structural violence as constituting forms of violence. For example,
one may be indifferent toward homeless people, or even consider their
expulsion or extermination a good thing. Religious practices in many
parts of the world also discriminate openly against certain social
categories.

3.4.2 Relative Deprivation

Relative Deprivation occurs where individuals or groups subjectively

see themselves as unfairly disadvantaged over others who are perceived
as having similar attributes and deserving similar rewards. It is a
situation in which a person is deprived of something which they think
they are entitled to, while another person possesses it. Deprivation is
relative between the two parties as one person possesses the item while
the other does not.

The term is often used in the social sciences to describe feelings or

measures of economic, political, or social deprivation that are relative
rather than absolute and has important consequences for both behaviour
and attitudes in a society, including feelings of stress, political attitudes,
and participation in collective action that threaten the peace.

Relative deprivation refers to the discontent people feel when they

compare their positions to those of similarly situated and find that they
have less than their peers.

Political scientists have argued that ‘relative deprivation’ is a potential

cause of crime and social unrest which can lead, in extreme situations, to
political violence such as rioting, terrorism and civil wars. According to
this theory, social movements arise when people feel deprived of what
they perceive as their ‘fair share’ as is the case in Nigeria’s Niger Delta.
Although it is often confused with absolute deprivation, where relative
levels of wealth are compared based on objective differences, it is
different.

Subjective experiences of deprivation are essential and relative

deprivation is more likely when the difference between two groups
becomes narrow to an extent that comparisons can be easily made. The
discontent arising from relative deprivation has been used to explain
radical politics, messianic religions, and the rise of radical social

65
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

movements such as militants in the Niger Delta area, industrial disputes,

crime and deviance.

We need to understand that a distinction has to be made between

religious fervor and demand for political change as forms of collective
response to relative deprivation and crime such as smuggling, poaching
or terrorism, which is an individualistic response to deprivation. Relative
deprivation offers a widespread notion of discontent and its emphasis on
subjectivity insures against the tendency of merely measuring objective
differences in equality.

3.4.3 Social Injustice

The existence of unequal treatment, such as tribalism, nepotism,

discrimination based on age, race, gender and orientation, is the basis for
social injustice. If it is not addressed, it can lead to colossal negative
consequences. It could also be in form of unequal distribution of wealth
and resources in a particular society, which can translate to all kinds of
vices since some people or groups are already disadvantaged. It
establishes situations that adversely affect people, denies individuals and
groups equal opportunity to have their basic human needs met. It also
violates fundamental human rights (Levy and Sidel, 2013).

3.3.4 Synthesis of Positive and Negative Peace

Generally, integration of the two types of peace and their individual

components have produced a clearer understanding of the essence and
extent of peace and have followed the pattern below:

1. Peace as Absence of War: as applied mostly to violent conflict

between and within states (war and civil war);

2. Peace as Balance of Forces in the International System: peace

as a dynamic balance involving political, social, cultural and
technological factors. War occurs whenever this balance breaks
down (e.g. Wright, 1941);

3. Peace as Negative Peace (No War) and Positive Peace (No

Structural Violence) (e.g. Galtung, 1969);

4. Feminist Peace: (Macro and Micro Levels of Peace) peace as

inclusive of not only the abolition of macro-level organized
violence such as war, but also doing away with micro-level
unorganized violence, such as rape in war or in the home, spouse-
bashing; abolition of “glass ceilings” in workplaces (e.g. Brock-
Utne, 1989);

66
PCR211 MODULE 2

5. Green Peace: (Peace with the Environment) places a very high

value on the relationship of humans to bio-environmental
systems. Human beings are seen as one of many species
inhabiting the earth, and the fate of the planet is seen as tied to
the fate of humans (Dreher, 1991; Macy,1991; Smoker, 1991);
and

6. Holistic Inner and Outer Peace: This sixth view of peace sees
inner, esoteric (spiritual) aspects of peace as essential.
Spiritually-based conception or theory of peace stresses the
centrality of inner peace, believing that all aspects of outer peace,
from the individual to the environmental levels, must be based on
inner peace.

In essence, the idea that peace can be defined in terms of the single
factor like the “absence of war,” has been substituted by theories that
argue that a number of other conditions, such as absence of structural
violence or peace with the environment are of equal importance. While
the absence of war remains a necessary condition for all peace
definitions, it is no longer a sufficient one in most formulations of peace.
At the same time, there has been a shift from including just the state
level of analysis in absence of war definitions, to peace theories that
include multiple levels of analysis ranging from the individual to the
environmental.

Class Activity

1. In what ways will the absence of open violence be a misleading

indicator of peace in any given society?
2. In what specific way is “green peace” threatened in different
parts of Nigeria?

Self-Assessment Exercise
1. What are the main components of positive and negative peace
that you know?
2. How does relative deprivation undermine peace? Give a concrete
example for each point made.

3.6 Summary

Peace is an ideal towards which every society strives. However, the

absence of physical or open violence involving individuals and social

67
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

groups who are pursuing different types of interests is not necessarily an

indication that there is peace in that society. We need to transcend
narrow definitions of ‘peace’, meaning the absence of war.
Achieving ‘positive’ peace includes focusing on holistic views of human
security, which project beyond the narrow political arena, to include the
social and economic well-being of people. This would include: social
justice; the protection of national assets such as the environment;
strategies and policies that ensure enough food; economic conditions
that overcome poverty; and institutions that protect people from personal
violence. For most people, this implies demilitarisation and
disarmament, but particularly in Africa, with its history of degradation
and its profusion of cultures, ‘human security’ also includes issues of
identity, and a deep commitment to respecting people’s dignity.

3.7 References/Further Readings/Web Resources

(http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html)

Aronson, E. (1988) The social animal. New York: Freeman.

Ayres, Alex ed. (1993) The wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr. New
York: Meridian.

Bar-Tal, D. (2002) The elusive nature of peace education. In G.

Salomon & B. Nevo (Eds.), Peace education: The concept,
principles, and practices around the world. Mahwah, NJ:
Erlbaum.

Coleman, P. (2003) Characteristics of protracted intractable conflict

Peace and Conflict: Journal of peace psychology, 9, 1-37.

Cooper, J. & Fazio, R. H. (1984) A new look at dissonance theory. In L.

Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology
(Vol. 17, pp. 229—266). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Copenhagen: Christian Eljers.

Copenhagen: Christian Eljers.

Copenhagen: Christian Eljers.

Fisher, R. J. (1997) Interactive conflict resolution; Syracuse, NY:

Syracuse University Press.

68
PCR211 MODULE 2

Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the oppressed; New York: Seabury Press.

Galtung, J. (1976) Peace and social structure: Essays in peace research

(Volume 2).

Galtung, J. (1978) Peace and social structure: Essays in peace research

(Volume 3).

Galtung, J. (1988) Peace and social structure: Essays in peace research

(Volume 6).

Galtung, J. (1996) Peace by peaceful means: Peace and conflict,

development and civilization. London: Sage.

Hague Appeal for Peace (1998) The Hague agenda for peace and justice
for the 21st century; UN ref A/54/98.

Juan J. Linz. (2000) Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes; Boulder,

Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers

Levy, B. S. & Sidel, V.W. (2013) The Nature of Social Injustice and its
Impacts on Public Health; Oxford University Press

Nathan, L. (2001) “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: The

Structural Causes of Crisis and Violence in Africa” Track Two
Vol. 10 No 2 (August 2001), Cape Town: The Centre for Conflict
Resolution.

United Nations: “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

69
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

3.8 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

Answer

Positive peace, the factors that are germane include:

Social justice is a term that is commonly used to describe a society with

many policies aimed toward achieving equality of opportunity and
equality of outcome.

As mentioned above that social justice is based on the concepts of

human rights and equality which makes them to be interrelated.
According to Rawls, the basic liberties that serve as indicators in a
society where social justice exist include: freedom of thought; liberty of
conscience as it affects social relationships on the grounds of religion,
philosophy, and morality; political liberties (e.g. representative
democratic institutions, freedom of speech and the press, and freedom of
assembly); freedom of association; freedoms necessary for the liberty
and integrity of the person (i.e., freedom from slavery, freedom of
movement and a reasonable degree of freedom to choose one's
occupation); and rights and liberties covered by the rule of law. All the
above mentioned are elements of human rights which are very essential
to the fundamentals of positive peace.

Human security is people-centered and focuses on shifting from a

preoccupation with protecting nation-states to protecting individuals in
addition as a way of guaranteeing peace.
Good governance ensures that political, social and economic priorities
are based on a broad societal agreement and that the poorest and most
vulnerable people have a voice in decision-making over how
development resources are allocated.

Component of Negative Peace

A number of factors and social practices undermine peace in very subtle
ways that prevents most people from realising that they have such short
or long-term impacts; Direct violence like public riots, inter-ethnic
conflicts and religious violence is shocking in itself, but it is the
brutality that accompanies it that usually gets our attention: we notice
the loss of lives and destruction of properties and social ties, and often
respond to it by looking for a way to reconcile the parties involved
Structural violence, however, is almost always invisible, embedded in
ubiquitous social structures, normalized by stable institutions and
regular experience. Structural violence occurs whenever people are
disadvantaged by political, legal, economic or cultural traditions.

70
PCR211 MODULE 2

UNIT 4 DIMENSIONS OF PEACE

Unit Structure

4.1 Introduction
4.2 Learning Outcomes
4.3 Domestic Peace
4.4 Global Peace
4.5 Durable Peace
4.5.1 Internal Harmony of the Individual
4.5.2 Satisfaction of Basic Human Needs
4.5.3 Absence of Interpersonal and Inter-Group Violence
4.5.4 Security
4.5.5 Justice
4.5.6 Freedom
4.6 Unstable Peace
4.7 Summary
4.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources
4.9 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

4.1 Introduction

In the previous Unit, we examined three types of peace and the factors
that determine their labeling as ‘positive’, ‘negative’ or ‘active’. In this
Unit, we will be examining the contexts in which the types of peace that
have been identified could occur, namely: the domestic context and the
international context. Within these contexts (whether viewed in regional
or global terms), the peace that is experienced could either be classified
as ‘durable’ or ‘unstable’. Where durable, there is the subtle suggestion
that positive peace exist but we need to be careful, once again, that the
durability is actual and not assumed as a result of the absence of open
conflict and violence.

4.2 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• Understand the different contexts of peace

• Identify the differences and similarities between domestic,
regional and international peace.
• Determine if peace that exists in any of the above context is
stable or fragile.

71
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

4. 3 Domestic Peace

The greatest achievement of peace on earth is dependent on its

accomplishment in the minutest social unit such as the family on
interpersonal level (Jewish Virtual Library, 2008). Thus, domestic peace
describes an ideal state of affairs between individuals in interpersonal
relationships and a condition in which a State and the general public are
in a balance and there is no risk of conflict escalation. In a situation of
domestic peace, the state is defined in terms of its territorial dimension,
and in is tune with an equally well-defined political community of
citizens who form a greater part of the population; there is a high level
of social cohesion based largely but not necessarily on a common
culture, history, tradition, belief system and nationality.

Domestic peace is also characterized by democratic rule, good

governance, transparency of decision-making, and by a high degree of
political legitimacy of broad based ruling elite that is revalidated in
periodic elections that the electorates themselves attest to be free and
fair and devoid of any form of direct or indirect threats and intimidation
in the process of making their choice of candidates to support.

In view of the above, domestic peace is possible where the legitimate

authority to rule is based largely on consent and voluntary compliance
rather than on threat, force and fear. Since there is equality of
opportunity, all groups in society are allowed to participate in public
affairs and compete as political parties for power in constitutional ways.
The constitution and the rule of law define the relations between
government and citizens of the state, while also placing limits on
government authority and coercion. There is a clear prevalence of
cooperative over disruptive and destructive modes of political
interaction in a framework of open, constructive political dialogue.
There is also the need for well-developed political institutions and
effective mechanisms for peaceful reconciliation of the interest and
needs of various individuals and groups.

Where domestic peace exists, the government finds it easier to impose

taxes, re-allocate resources to disadvantaged sectors of society and to
invest in infrastructure, health, education and defence. The military is
usually under firm civilian control and there is no challenge to the
State’s monopoly of violence. The state is capable of providing law and
order, justice, and social and physical security to its citizens. Human and
minority rights are respected and there are rarely incidents of political
violence.

72
PCR211 MODULE 2

4.4 Global Peace

In both security studies and international political economy, scholars

strive to explain patterns of conflict and cooperation among nations.
Conflicts among nations are inevitable since their political and economic
aims and interests are often divergent. Cooperation does not refer to
absence of conflict, but the ability of nations to peacefully resolve their
differences in a way that is acceptable to all parties involved. When
cooperation fails, conflicts often escalate into coercion and ultimately
war that may involve more neighbouring countries and others who may
be drawn into it.

As we noted in Unit 1, the philosopher Immanuel Kant had proposed a

federation or “league” of nations of the world on the belief that such a
federation would allow countries to unite and punish any nation that
commits any act of aggression as a form of collective security. Kant also
felt that the federation would protect the rights of small nations that
often become caught up in the middle of power struggles between larger
countries.

Kant’s idea came to life after the First World War (1914-1918). Because
the devastation of the war was massive, countries were encouraged to
come together and work toward peace. They formed the League of
Nations, to achieve that goal but several of the world’s most powerful
countries like the United States were not members, and the League
required consensus among its members to oppose aggression.

What this meant was that all it took to scuttle any peacemaking by the
League was the disagreement by any one member. When Japan, Italy,
and Germany undertook military aggression that ultimately led to World
War II (1939-1945), they could not be censored. In the end, the League
failed to prevent another world war.

Despite this failure, the idea of a concert of nations did not die. In 1941,
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill announced the Atlantic Charter, in which they
pledged to work toward a more effective system to keep world peace
and promote cooperation. In 1943, the United States, the United
Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China agreed to establish a general
International Organization and by 1944, they succeeded in drafting a
charter for the new organization which they named the United Nations.

The United Nations (UN) is currently the principal agency that is

saddled with the responsibility for maintaining peace all over the world.
It was founded after World War II ended in 1945 and its mission is to
maintain world peace, develop good relations between countries,

73
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

promote cooperation in solving the world’s problems, and encourage

respect for human rights. As members of the UN, countries agree to
cooperate with one another and pledge to settle their disputes peacefully,
to refrain from using force or the threat of force against other countries.

The UN Security Council is responsible for maintaining international

peace, and for restoring peace when conflicts arise. Its decisions are
binding on all UN members and have the force of international law. It
has the power to define what constitutes a threat to security, to
determine how the UN should respond, and to enforce its decisions by
ordering UN members to take certain actions.

In an effort to resolve conflicts between countries, the Council’s first

step is to encourage the countries to resolve their differences without
resorting to violence. The Council can mediate a dispute or recommend
guidelines for a settlement. It can send peacekeeping troops into a
distressed area. If war breaks out, it can call for a ceasefire and can
enforce its decisions by imposing economic sanctions on a country, or
by authorizing joint military action.

UN peacekeeping forces play a neutral role in the safeguarding of global

peace and the threat of regional conflicts in several ways:
• They can go into an area of conflict as observers,
making sure agreements reached between opposing
sides are respected.
• They can provide a buffer zone or “corridor of
safety” between warring parties by physically
placing themselves in the middle of warring
factions.
• They can provide a channel of communication by
negotiating with military officers on both sides.
• They can also monitor ceasefires, supervise
elections, and provide humanitarian aid.

In addition to peacekeeping missions, the UN can also authorize peace

enforcement operations.

Unlike peacekeeping, peace enforcement operations seek to repel

international aggression, using military force if necessary. Under chapter
7 of the UN charter, the Security Council may authorize member
countries to take military action in response to international breaches of
the peace.

Global or international peace is secured when States renounce the use of

force as the only or most predominant strategy used in the pursuit of
their divergent goals. There is sometimes a relative agreement on the

74
PCR211 MODULE 2

principles of distribution of goods and often an overwhelming

preponderance of one State over the other.

Within the international system, ‘positive peace’ is often taken as

involving more than the mere absence of organized violence where
sovereign States and their armies confront one another in pitched battles;
it involves adherence by members of the United Nations and groups
within each sovereign State to respect and safeguard established rules
and codes of conduct, to tolerate each other, and to ensure the basic
needs of most members of their constituencies are provided through one
form of social security safety net or the other.

4.5 Durable Peace

Durable peace or lasting’, ‘positive’ or ‘just peace’ involves a high level

of cooperation between parties as well as awareness that pursuit of
conflicting interests is potentially disruptive. Parties remain peaceful
because they value their overall relationship more than specific self-
interests that they may have as individuals or groups. Separate and
potentially conflictual interests are pursued within peaceful,
institutionalized dispute settlement mechanisms and parties feel no need
to arrange for military or unconventional force to safeguard its security
against others.

In the field of Peace and Conflict Studies, a society or group of societies

will be said to be experiencing durable peace where co-operative and
regulated conflict that lead to or sustain peace are supported by shared
values and goals, flexible political institutions, outlets for political
expression, and participatory decision-making by all stakeholders in
such society (Lund, 1997: 2-5).

The key components of durable peace are security, justice, and freedom.
In a profound sense, if peace is an end, it is as well the means to that
same end. Only those who are peaceful can create conditions that
nurture peace. For that reason, a set of dynamic and purposeful attitudes
that seek to uphold the values of security, justice, and freedom inherent
in stabilizing a political or social order become necessary. Some of these
are listed below:

4.5.1 Internal Harmony of the Individual

For durable peace to exist there must be the internal harmony of

individual. Some events might include a serious threat or harm to a
person’s family or friends, sudden destruction of his home or
community, and a threat to his person. Such events overwhelm the
individual’s coping ability, making it difficult for him to function

75
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

effectively in society. Typical emotional effects include depression and

post-traumatic stress disorder. After prolonged and extensive trauma, a
person is often left with intense feelings that negatively influence his/her
psychological well-being.

4.5.2 Satisfaction of Basic Human Needs

This means satisfaction of human needs or wants such as nutrition, good

health, safety and security, social needs, self-respect and human rights,
and self-actualization. Stable peace has to be built on social, economic,
and political foundations that serve the needs of the populace. In many
cases, crises arise out of systemic root causes that include lopsided land
distribution, environmental degradation, and unequal political
representation. If these social problems are not addressed, there can be
no lasting peace.

4.5.3 Absence of Interpersonal and Inter-Group Violence

If peace is linked to security and is flanked by justice and freedom, one

may also have to live from time to time in some tension with the fact
that individuals and groups have sometimes irreconcilable differences in
the positions, views, tastes, interests, needs and other values that they
hold or cherish and are unwilling to negotiate away at any price. These
differences or conflicts may pitch these individuals and groups against
each other from time to time (Turkey V Greece; United States V Cuba;
Israel V Lebanon; Eritrea V Ethiopia; Hutus V Tutsis; Christians V
Muslims; Ijaws V Itsekiris).

4.5.4 Security

Security is a condition of peace and of human survival. ‘Peace’ cannot

be viewed as an end in itself unless it means ‘peace with recognition of
the interests of the poor’. This is likely to mean peace that is spiced with
justice and security.

4.5.5 Justice

Justice requires that everybody and every group receives their due.
Otherwise, individuals and groups may set peace aside to claim what
they consider justly belongs to them. Peace can only take hold when it is
firmly rooted in justice. President Dwight Eisenhower once said that
peace and justice are two sides of the same coin, and he was right. In
order to allow democracy and stability to take root in a country or a
region, peace must be not just a temporary ceasefire or a simple bandage
over wounds and resentments that are bound to flare up again. Rather,

76
PCR211 MODULE 2

the deepest causes of conflict must be brought to light, examined, and

addressed.

4.5.6 Freedom

Freedom involves persons and groups being able to shape their own
future. In making a choice, many will prefer freedom without peace to
peace without freedom. Theories of just war have been elaborated to
help to work out behaviour for those situations in which peace has to be
balanced against other values and ends and occasionally, set aside for
reasons of security, justice and freedom.

The strains on peace in African countries like Cote d’ Ivoire, Sudan,

Somalia, and Congo DRC, for example, are evident as some groups feel
the lack of security, resent injustice and/or inefficiency. They protest
against these systems in the belief that they unduly limit freedom or set
certain groups at a disadvantage when compared with other groups.
While security guarantees survival; justice provides the links of co-
operation without which peace will be difficult to sustain; and freedom
allows the downtrodden to have a high sense of self-esteem.

Finally, the co-operation that lies at the heart of durable peace may be
functional in the sense that persons and groups recognise that it is in
their best interests to collaborate with others in friendship. The medieval
thinker, Thomas Aquinas drives home the importance and functionality
of friendship in his Summa Theologiae when he noted that: ‘Peace is
indirectly the work of justice, which removes the obstacles, but directly
it (peace) is the work of friendship.’

4.6 Unstable Peace

According to Lund (1997: 2-6) an unstable peace is “a situation in which

tension and suspicion among parties run high but violence is either
absent or only sporadic”. In a situation of unstable peace, a negative
peace also prevails because while in fact there is little or no physical
violence, there is also no friendship and for this reason, tensions rise and
fall and the parties are always looking for ways to secure themselves
against their perceived adversaries. Since we have taken time to look at
negative peace and the factors that lead to it earlier on, the student only
need to refer back to the two Units that covered it in this Module.

Class Activity
1. What factors determine the stability of domestic
and global peace?

77
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

2. “Some people prefer to have freedom without peace

rather than peace without freedom”. Discuss this
statement using local examples from Nigeria

Self-Assessment Exercise
1. In what ways did Emmanuel Kant influence the pursuit of peace
on a global scale?
2. In what ways have international institutions provided safeguards
against the occurrence of another World War?

4.7 Summary

In this Unit, we examined the contexts in which peace could occur,

namely: the domestic context and the international context. We also
came to understand that peace within any of the two contexts could
either be classified as ‘durable’ or ‘unstable’. Finally, we identified a
number of dynamic and purposeful attitudes that help human societies to
uphold the values of security, justice, and freedom that will assist in
stabilizing political or social order in local and international or global
contexts.

4.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources

Assefa & Wachira eds., Peacemaking and democratisation in Africa:

Theoretical perspectives and church initiatives, Nairobi: East
African Educational Publishers.

Boulding, K. E. (1978) Stable Peace. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Boutros-Boutros Ghali, ‘An Agenda for Peace, Preventive diplomacy,

Peacemaking and Peace-keeping’; Report of the Secretary-
General pursuant to the statement adopted by the Publishing
Summit Meeting of the Security Council on 31 January 1992.

Burton, J.W. (1990), Conflict: Human Needs Theory, New York: St.
Martin’s Press.

Christie, D. J., Wagner, R. V., & Winter, D. A. (Eds.). (2001). Peace,

Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology for the 21st Century.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

78
PCR211 MODULE 2

Deutsch, M. (1973), The Resolution of Conflict: Constructive and

Destructive Processes; New Haven (Connecticut): Yale
University Press.

Evans, G. G. (1994) Cooperating for Peace: The Global Agenda for the
1990’s and Beyond; Paul & Co. Publishing Consortium.

Galtung, J. (1969), “Violence, Peace and Peace Research”; Journal of

Peace Research, No. 3.

Jewish Virtual Library (2008) Domestic Peace. A project of American-

Israeli Cooperative Enterprise

Keene, A. T. (1998) Peacemakers: Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lund M. S, (1997), Preventing and Mitigating Violent Conflicts: A

Revised Guide for Practitioners; Washington DC: Creative
Associates Intl.

Lyons, G. M., and M. Mastanduno, eds. (1995) Beyond Westphalia:

State Sovereignty and International Intervention. Baltimore, Md.:
Johns Hopkins University Press.

Mahoney, M. J. (1990), Human Change Processes; New York: Basic

Books

O’Connell, D. (1988) “Love, Force and Violence: a Theological Note on

Peace”, The Month 21(11) (November).

Pruitt, D.G. & J. Z. Rubin (1986) Social Conflict: Escalation, Stalemate

and Settlement; New York: Newbury Award Inc.

Rapoport, A. (1974) Conflict in Man-Made Environment, Middlesex:

Penguin/ Harmondsworth.

Richard A. Falk, Samuel S. Kim, and Saul H. Mendlovitz, eds. (1991),

The United Nations and A Just World Order; Boulder, Colo.:
Westview

Simmel, G. (1956) Conflict and the web of group affiliations; Glencoe,

IL: Free Press.

79
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

4.9 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

Answer

1. The philosopher Immanuel Kant had proposed a federation or

“league” of nations of the world on the belief that such a federation
would allow countries to unite and punish any nation that commits any
act of aggression as a form of collective security. Kant also felt that the
federation would protect the rights of small nations that often become
caught up in the middle of power struggles between larger countries.
Kant also felt that the federation would protect the rights of small
nations that often become caught up in the middle of power struggles
between larger countries.

2.UN peacekeeping forces play a neutral role in the safeguarding of

global peace and the threat of regional conflicts in several ways:

• They can go into an area of conflict as observers,

making sure agreements reached between opposing
sides are respected.
• They can provide a buffer zone or “corridor of
safety” between warring parties by physically
placing themselves in the middle of warring
factions.
• They can provide a channel of communication by
negotiating with military officers on both sides.
• They can also monitor ceasefires, supervise
elections, and provide humanitarian aid.

80
PCR211 MODULE 3

MODULE 3 PEACE CLASSIFIED

Unit 1 Culture of War and Peace

Unit 2 Culture of Peace in Africa
Unit 3 Peace Studies
Unit 4 Concepts Related to Peace

UNIT 1 CULTURE OF WAR AND PEACE

Unit Structure

1.1 Introduction
1.2 Learning Outcomes
1.3 Significance of Culture
1.4 Culture of Aggression, Violence and War
1.5 Culture of Peace
1.6 Pillars of a Culture of Peace
1.7 Summary
1.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources
1.9 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

1.1 Introduction

Culture represents patterns of behavior and thinking that people living in

social groups learn, create, and share and it is the product of this
learning that distinguishes one human group from others. In this Unit,
we will explore the significance of culture in terms of how it affects
attitudes and behaviors that are considered “peaceful”. We will be
interested in how various African cultures have worked to ensure
peacefulness through their respective cultural practices.

1.2 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, the student would have a fair idea of

• How culture affects or shape behavior

• The meaning of “Culture of Peace”
• Aspects of African cultures that promote peace.

81
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

1.3 Significance of Culture

A people’s culture includes their beliefs, rules of behavior, language,

rituals, art, and technology, styles of dress, ways of producing and
cooking food, religion, and political and economic systems.
Anthropologists use the term culture to refer to a society or group in
which many or all people live, think and behave in the same manner.
Likewise, any groups of people that share common rules of behavior
constitute a society. Culture is an interactive process and each culture
trait, or constellation of traits, acts and reacts upon others, forming new
combinations and permutations from time to time.

People are not born with culture and for that reason, they have to learn
it. For instance, children and adults who are new to a cultural setting
must learn to speak and understand the local language and to abide by
the rules of such a society. In many societies, all people must learn to do
things in a particular way before they can be fully accepted as bonafide
members of such societies. In all human societies, children learn culture
from adults. This is the way in which people get to learn about aspects
of their culture that promote peacefulness and those that do not.

Arguments like this tend to see our species as inherently and genetically
violent and create the impression that warmongering is part and parcel
of human nature. However, scientific arguments based on evolution,
genetics, animal behavior, brain research and social psychology have
concluded to the contrary that biology does not predestine us to war and
violence. In fact, our biological legacy of aggression is the basis of our
capacity for righteous anger against injustice and support of peace
activism. The question then is: if war is not in our genes, where does it
come from and why has it been so persistent throughout history? The
scientists concluded that the answer is to be found in our culture.

1.4 Culture of Aggression, Violence and War

The violence embedded in most of the world’s societies causes many to

consider it an inherent part of human nature, but there are those who
have disagreed with this notion and argued instead that violence is a
phenomenon that emerged in the last five to ten thousand years. Authors
of The Seville Statement on Violence also argued that the institution of
warfare and its associated culture of violence are not biological
phenomena inherited from our primate ancestors; instead they are
cultural phenomena. For this reason, it is essential to understand how
and why the culture of war developed and has been sustained over time.

82
PCR211 MODULE 3

To ask these questions, we then need to understand the usefulness of

war and the culture of war.

There are arguments that the earliest wars were fought to mitigate the
effect of unpredictable disasters. At the end, the victors take land or
other resources from the defeated. Hence, taking resources from the
defeated occurs usually in foraging as well as in the agrarian cultures. A
community whose harvest had been destroyed by bad weather or
animals would be easily tempted to go and plunder the barns of a more
fortunate neighbouring community. Consequently, because it is often
said that the first law of nature is “self-preservation”, those who are
under attack by marauders will need to design ways of defending their
territory and possessions by force in order that they themselves will not
be enslaved or starved to death.

In more recent times, the state has assumed the right to monopolise all
forms of violence. In fact, Max Weber’s definition of the State is based
on its monopoly of the right to use violence. His definition of the state
as the human organization that has a “monopoly on the legitimate use of
physical force within a given territory” (Weber 1921) lends credence to
the centrality of violence in the identity of the modern state. The more
recent classification of a “failed state” as one that has lost its monopoly
of the exclusive right to use violence to non-State actors also underline
the centrality of aggression and violence in the identity of a modern
State.

The termination of the Cold War, which had triggered an Arms Race
that justified the development of assorted weapons of mass destruction
that brought mankind to the brink of mutual assured destruction and a
nuclear holocaust, has not led to a corresponding decrease in
preparations for war or the emphasis on violence both within States and
between them. Despite the avowed commitment of many of the leading
nuclear powers to several Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT),
Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) and more recent agreements
on reduction of nuclear weapons stockpiles and prevention of
proliferation, the numbers of countries that possess these weapons has
increased.

Most States and their citizenry continue to retain enemy images and
openly commit scarce economic resources to neutralising perceived
“enemies”. The remarks by U.S. President George W. Bush about
America’s enemies constituting an “axis of evil” in the aftermath of the
September 11, 2001 attacks on American soil by Al-Qaeda elements,
and subsequent deployment of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are clear
examples of the effects of this mindset.

83
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

Certain aspects of African cultures also appear to promote violent

behavior. Examples include wild flogging duels associated with
masquerade festivals, the practice of Sharo (Stick fights) among the
Fulani and keenly contested wrestling duels that are variously described
as Dambe (Hausa), Ijakadi and Eke (Yoruba) and I-gba-Mgba (Igbo) in
various parts of Nigeria.

The causal relationship between these forms of human aggression,

violence and warfare and the culture of violence is such that violence
produces a culture of violence and war while a culture of war produces
violence and war. The scope of the culture of violence associated with
warfare include armies and armaments; authoritarian rule associated
with military leadership; control of information through secrecy and
propaganda; identification of an “enemy”; artistic and literary
glorification of military conquest; means to deter revolts and political
dissidence through internal security mechanisms, penal systems and a
“license to kill” granted to coercive agencies of the State.

1.5 Culture of Peace

Reading through the Old Testament of the Bible, the Iliad or epics of
other civilizations will readily show that cycles of violence are not new.
The ages of the Crusades of the Dark Ages, and the Inquisition that
accompanied them came with massive scales of violence and millions of
deaths to both soldiers and civilians alike. The horrors that they created
led to the establishment of several international institutions like The
League of Nations and The United Nations Organisation (UN).
Although the functioning of the UN was limited by the ideological
rivalry between the Capitalist and Communist blocs and Arms Race that
followed it during the Cold War, it also served the purpose of freezing
conflicts within and between nation States of the world.

Alarmed at the scale of violence and civil wars that began immediately
after the end of the Cold War, the United Nations began to call for a
transition from the culture of war to a culture of peace. This led to a
series of actions and publications emerged from the conclusion of the
Seville Statement on Violence, drafted by leading scientists from around
the world during the UN International Year for Peace in 1986 who
argued that the same species that invented war is capable of inventing
peace since wars begin in the minds of men, it is also in the minds of
men that the defences of peace must be constructed.

In 1989, the final declaration of the International Congress on Peace in

the Minds of Men which held in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire included a
declaration for a “culture of peace”. Delegates to the Congress called for
the construction of “a new vision of peace culture based on the universal

84
PCR211 MODULE 3

values of respect for life, liberty, justice, solidarity, tolerance, human

rights and equality between women and men”

From that point, the UN began a campaign tagged Manifesto 2000 for
the International Year for the Culture of Peace. This was followed in
2005 by a World Report on the Culture of Peace that has been presented
to the UN for the midpoint of the International Decade for a Culture of
Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010).

The culture of peace is defined as “a set of values, attitudes, traditions

and modes of behaviour and ways of life.” According to UNESCO, the
objective of a culture of peace is to ensure that the conflicts that result
from human relationships should be resolved non-violently. Other
insights provided by UNESCO include claims that:
1. A culture of peace requires the participation of
people at all levels;
2. A culture of peace should contribute to the
strengthening of democratic processes;
3. The implementation of a culture of peace project
requires mobilization of both formal and non-
formal education, and communication;
4. A culture of peace requires the learning and use of
new techniques for the peaceful management and
resolution of conflicts;
5. A culture of peace should be elaborated within the
process of sustainable, endogenous, equitable
human development; and
6. It cannot be imposed from the outside.

The culture of peace provides an alternative to the escalating cycle of

violence in the world which requires among others, an understanding
and respect for all peoples, their cultures, civilizations, values and ways
of life, including domestic ethnic cultures and cultures of other nations;
awareness of the increasing global interdependence between peoples
and nations; abilities to communicate with others, and readiness on the
part of the individual to participate in solving the problems of his/her
community, country and the world at large.

1.6 Pillars of a Culture of Peace

In order to entrench a culture of peace, the following important

requirements are necessary:
1. Satisfaction of basic human necessities, including
material, political, social, judicial, and cultural
needs.

85
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

2. Education for change, promoting values which guide people's

actions in daily practice.
3. Freedom from myths, especially the myths and symbols which
prevent people from taking personal responsibility for the future.
4. Demilitarization of defence, recognizing that the solution of
conflicts does not necessarily require military force.
5. Demystification of threats, recognizing that others are not
necessarily our enemies.
6. Feminization of culture, replacing the war system which is
characterized by male-dominated social hierarchy and authority.
7. Disobedience as a virtue, not in the form of irresponsibility but a
critical consciousness engaged in the resolution of conflicts.
8. Respect for cultural identity, reversing the effects of imperialist
and colonial policies and avoiding any tendency to impose a
universal culture.
9. Overcoming the logic of blocs such as the East-West conflict,
accepting a world of pluralism, diversity and tolerance.
10. Empowerment of the ‘small’ - the people in the face of the state,
human rights in the face of ‘state security’- making possible the
encounter of the human being with his surroundings in
equilibrium and freedom from oppression.

Class Activity
1. Why is it difficult to sustain the argument that
aggression is in our genes?

Self-Assessment Exercise
1 What is culture?
2. Mentioned six Pillars of Culture?

1.7 SUMMARY

There are several findings from research that contradict hitherto-held

beliefs relating to human aggression and violence as traits that humans
are born with. The Seville Statement on Violence makes it clear for
instance, that contrary to the erroneous notion that human aggression,
violence and warfare and the culture of violence that has become
pervasive in human societies are biological phenomena inherited from
our ancestors they are, in fact, cultural phenomena that are learnt in the
process of human socialization and orientation.

86
PCR211 MODULE 3

1.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources

Akin-Aina, T. (1989) Culture in the Development Process: The Nigerian

Experience; Scandinavian Journal of Development Alternatives
VIII (4): 123–137.

Boutros-Ghali, B., An Agenda for Peace: Preventive diplomacy,

peacemaking and peace -keeping. Report of the Secretary-
General, 31 January 1992, A/47/277 - S/24111,
http://www.un.org/Docs/SG/agpeace.html.

Caplan, R. (2005) International Governance of War-Torn Territories.

Rule and reconstruction, New York: Sage.

Covey, J., Dziedzic, M. und Hawley, L. (2005), The Quest for viable
Peace; International Intervention and Strategies for Conflict
Transformation, Washington: USIP

Horner, S. (1994) Conversing about culture. The Courier 144 (March–

April): 44–45.

Maslow, A. (1954) Motivation and Personality; New York: Harper and

Row

Miall, H., O. Ramsbotham and T. Woodhouse, (1999) Contemporary

Conflict Resolution. The prevention, management and
transformation of deadly conflicts, Oxford: OUP.

Sawyer, K. (2005), Social Emergence: Societies as Complex Systems,

Cambridge: Cambridge UP.

Thompson, M., Ellis, R., & Wildavsky, A. (1990), Cultural Theory;

Boulder: Westview Press.

UNESCO, Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace

(A/53/243), 6 October 1999

UNESCO, Report of the Secretary-General: International Decade for a

Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the
World, 2001–2010 (A/55/377); 12 September 2000

87
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

UNESCO, Report on the International NGO Symposium, ‘The Culture

of Peace: An Idea in Action’; 24–25 November 2001

UNESCO, Report on the progress made by UNESCO in the

implementation of the programme of action on a culture of peace
and on co-operation with the United Nations system in this field
(161 EX/17, item 3.1.1, document presented at the 161st session
of UNESCO’s Executive Board, April 2001)

Wheeler, S., It Pays to Be Popular: a Study of Civilian Assistance and

Guerilla Warfare, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social
Simulation (2005) Vol. 8, No. 4

88
PCR211 MODULE 3

1.9 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

1. The culture of peace is defined as “a set of values, attitudes, traditions

and modes of behaviour and ways of life.” According to UNESCO, the
objective of a culture of peace is to ensure that the conflicts that result
from human relationships should be resolved non-violently.
2.In order to entrench a culture of peace, the following important
requirements are necessary:

1.Satisfaction of basic human necessities, including material, political,

social, judicial, and cultural needs.

2.Education for change, promoting values which guide people's actions

in daily practice.

3.Freedom from myths, especially the myths and symbols which prevent
people from taking personal responsibility for the future.

4.Demilitarization of defence, recognizing that the solution of conflicts

does not necessarily require military force.

5.Demystification of threats, recognizing that others are not necessarily

our enemies.

6.Feminization of culture, replacing the war system which is

characterized by male-dominated social hierarchy and authority.

89
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

UNIT 2 CULTURES OF PEACE IN AFRICA

Unit Structure

2.1 Introduction
2.2 Learning Outcomes
2.3 African Conflicts
2.4 Notions of Reconciliation, Accountability, Truth, and Reparation
in Africa
2.4.1 Reconciliation
2.4.2 Accountability
2.4.3 Truth-Telling
2.4.4 Reparation
2.5 Culture of Peace in Africa
2.5.1 The Institution of Elders
2.5.2 Gacaca (‘Justice on the Grass’)
2.5.3 Ubuntu
2.6 Attributes of Informal Justice Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa
2.7 Summary
2.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources
2.9 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

2.1 Introduction
As we have observed in earlier Units, we need to go beyond narrow
definitions of ‘peace’ as the mere absence of war if we are to understand
it fully. The student must have also come to realize by now that the steps
to establishing a viable culture of peace involves focusing on holistic
views of human security, the social and economic well-being of people.
This would include: social justice; the protection of the environment;
strategies and policies that ensure availability of enough food; economic
conditions that help people to overcome poverty; and institutions that
protect people from aggression, violence and the scourge of war.

2.2 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• Understand the nature of contemporary conflicts in

various parts of Africa
• Understand the notions of reconciliation, accountability, truth,
and reparation in Africa
• Appreciate the focus of informal justice systems in Africa
• See examples of traditional practices that promoted a culture of
peace that are being reactivated for dealing with conflict
outcomes on the continent.

90
PCR211 MODULE 3

2.3 Contemporary Conflicts in Africa

After the Second World War, France and Britain, the dominant African
colonial powers, were too economically weakened to continue to resist
demands by African nationalists for political independence and freedom.
However, while independence was granted without hassles in some
parts of Africa, it required bitter protests and bloody armed
confrontations before independence was conceded in some others.
Africa’s political inheritance from colonial rule included arbitrarily
drawn borders, a large number of artificial “nations” and the lumping
together of several ethnic populations who have no historical or cultural
ties. After independence, the unity that bound nationalist movements
and leaders together only survived until it came to the time to choose
new leaders. In many African countries, political parties developed
around ethnic identity and for that reason, elections were hotly
contested, often acrimonious and in most cases, could only produce
insecure governments that were compelled to grapple with ethnic
conflicts, civil wars and secession.

The decade of African independences coincided with the era of the

East—West ideological confrontations that is often described as the
“Cold War” chiefly because it did not involve physical combats and
pitched battles between the coalition of States under each bloc. In
Africa, most of the confrontations that this instigated directly or
indirectly were between States (e.g., Ethiopia Vs Somalia; Tanzania Vs
Uganda, etc.). Other forms of conflict that occurred within the period
involved groups within a State that were pitted against one another in
contestations over political, social and economic resources.

During the cold war, both the East and West cajoled African states into
aligning with them and serve as part of the spheres of influence that they
were looking to expand in Africa in return for economic and military
aid. With the end of the cold war in the late 1980s, the erstwhile
“enemies” withdrew from Africa but the ‘surplus’ arms they stacked up
during the cold war found their way into the continent, mostly through
black markets and international arms dealers. These weapons were
freely deployed in intra-state conflicts in various parts of Africa.

The vassal-like relationships that African states maintained with both

the East and West ideological blocs during the cold war enabled several
despotic regimes to remain in power under protective political and
military shields provided by the metropolitan powers who were more
interested in expanding their spheres of influence by all means than
upholding the democratic values that enabled their own societies to
grow. With the end of the cold war, it became difficult for any

91
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

justification to be found that would enable continued support to despotic

regimes and most began to lose control and were either overthrown or
forced to democratise.

Most of the conflicts that have been experienced and are still taking
place in Africa stemmed from long-suppressed agitations for
fundamental rights, social and political exclusion of minority (and
sometimes majority) groups, absence of economic opportunities, and
widespread corruption. Resolving them will require enhancing respect
for human rights and fundamental freedoms, promotion of sustainable
development and alleviation of distress.

2.4 Notions of Reconciliation, Accountability, Truth, and

Restitution in Traditional Africa

The idea of an African renaissance that is being championed in recent

times as possible solutions to widespread civil conflicts across Africa
recommends a return to assessing positive examples of cultural practices
from the African past, and to emulate them in a way that will help
Africans to overcome current challenges of widespread conflicts.
Because social peace is challenged by new practices of discrimination
and exclusion, we also need to affirm the enormous sense of community
that is deeply embedded in the African psyche.

In Africa, indigenous conflict management resource is to be found in the

sphere of traditional social mechanisms. With its profusion of cultures,
there is a deep commitment to issues that have to do with identity,
injustice, liberty, the dignity of persons and respect for others. Two
factors that seem to dominate conflict resolution activities and therefore
entrenchment of a culture of peace in Africa are the tradition of family
or neighbourhood negotiation facilitated by elders, and the attitude of
togetherness in the spirit of humanhood (ubuntu).

2.4.1 Reconciliation

Reconciliation is the ultimate goal of traditional justice systems among

most African communities. After the end of violent conflicts, local
reconciliation activities are often focused on the return of ex-combatants
and their resettlement. In Mozambique, Curandeiros (traditional
healers) conducted reintegration rituals for ex-soldiers after the end of
the civil war in 1990. In northern Uganda, there are rituals that are
targeted at reconciliation including the Moyo kum (‘cleansing the body’)
where men and women who have come back from captivity have their
guilt washed away by the elders before they begin living together in
harmony with their kindred again, and the Mato oput ceremony which is
focused on the reconciling perpetrators of crimes and their victims. In

92
PCR211 MODULE 3

Mozambique Magamba spirits festival makes it possible for individuals

and communities to desist from further violence and re-establish broken
relationships.

2.4.2 Accountability

The practice of mato oput ‘is also predicated on acceptance of one’s

responsibility for the crime the breaking of a taboo through voluntary
admission of wrongdoing, and the acceptance of responsibility. In
Mozambique, acknowledgement of guilt by an offender is a crucial
element in Magamba spirit scenes. In more recent conflicts, the
bashingantahe in Burundi was set up to deal with the legacy of grave
human rights violations, but the accountability component is very
prominent in their customary dispute settlement sessions. The Gacaca in
Rwanda originally had the restoration of social harmony as the first
goal, and the reconciliation ceremonies of the Sierra Leone’s Truth and
Reconciliation Commission are also oriented towards perpetrators
admitting their transgression.

2.4.3 Truth-Telling

Truth telling is an integral part of local dispute resolution practices in

many African countries. One of the objectives of traditional systems of
justice in northern Uganda is to establish a common view of the violent
collective history. Truth seeking through ritual public narratives is
extremely important. After the civil war ended in Mozambique, the
political response was to bury the past and impose a curfew of silence.
This culture of denial prevented victims from evoking their suffering
and restoring their dignity. The gamba spirit ceremonies create
opportunities for both victims and perpetrators to engage with the past.
In Burundi, members of the Ubushingantahe are expected to develop
conditions that are conducive to the establishment of the real facts in a
dispute.

2.4.4 Reparation

Traditional peacemaking practices usually involve some form of direct

or indirect compensation for victims. Magamba healers in Mozambique
believe that in order to deal successfully with the legacy of the civil war
that took place in that country, offenders must repair the damage they
inflicted on their victims by compensating them. In Rwanda, the recent
legislation on Gacaca provides for two types of reparation: a fund set up
to compensate individuals, their family or their clan and the second,
community labour.

93
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

2.5 Frameworks of African Culture of Peace

2.5.1 The Institution of Elders

The acceptable roles for elders differ from society to society. The
Yoruba acknowledge the central role of elders in their culture in their
adage “Agba ko si n’ilu, ilu baje” (Without elders, a society will
degenerate). Some cultures utilize their elders in many ways, while
others do in just a few. According to several writings by African (and
sometimes non-African) scholars, elders are valued in Africa because
they maintain the old traditions, customs, and kinship systems that are
imperative to the group’s survival. They are also honored for their
extensive knowledge of the land and the usefulness of the local plant
life.

In some cultures, elders play administrative and political roles. For the
Igbo of Nigeria, the eldest male (Okpala) is the group’s leader and
accorded the responsibility to control the group politically, legally, and
morally. Similar political systems exist in other cultures around Africa.
When a group or council of elders governs a society like they did in the
Igbo republican system in the past, the society is referred to as a
gerontocracy.

The Lozi of South Central Africa also values their elders for upholding
values, norms, and taboos, especially involving kinship and marriage.
Elders will protest when a man wishes to marry a woman who is
considered related to his family. If the man persists in marrying the
woman, the elders will not dismiss it, but instead, they will curse the
marriage. Elders sometimes play the role of spiritual advisor. Often
elders are spiritual leaders, or at least, teach the details of rituals and
ceremonies.

Many societies regard their elders as counselors and advisory members.

In traditional Africa, the younger members of the society took special
care to seek the advice of elders and in most cases; a council of elders
was often required to review the major decisions of a family. At this
time, the grandparents were also requested to give their input. In all
parts of Africa, elders sometimes act as mediators and arbitrate in
conflicts over resources, rights and privileges of members of their
communities.

Teaching younger members skills and knowledge of subsistence is also

very important for the existence of a culture. In most African cultures,
the elderly are responsible for passing down oral traditions and teaching
and instructing younger members. By telling stories, myths, legends,
and singing songs, elders keep their cultural heritage and history alive.

94
PCR211 MODULE 3

An elder represents the entire legal and mystical authority of a lineage.

The very fact of eldership confers mystical powers upon a person. He
can invoke the wrath of ancestors in the name of the lineage, thereby
removing from the cursed member the mystical protection of the
lineage. The curse can be formal and public, but it can also be secret and
even unconscious. The removal of this protection exposes him to the
outside world, and the world is a dangerous place to be in when one is
not attached to a kin group. According to the Suku people of
southwestern Congo (Kinshasa), a curse “opens the road to misfortune,
though it may not actively cause misfortune”. An elder’s curse that is
uttered in the name of the lineage can only be removed by a senior elder
to whom the previous elder is a junior.

In recognition of the positive roles of elders in African culture, a 15-

member ECOWAS Council of Elders was established in July 2001 under
Article 17 of the Protocol Relating to the Mechanism for Conflict
Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security. It was
established as an organ to assist ECOWAS Mediation and Security
Council in the task of restoring peace and stability to the West African
sub-region. Membership of the Council of Elders is made up of a
representative from each Member State, and some of the missions that
the Council has undertaken included election monitoring in Sierra
Leone, Zimbabwe, the Gambia, Togo and Nigeria in addition to a fact-
finding mission to Guinea Bissau and a mediation role in Liberia.

2.5.2 Gacaca (‘Justice on the Grass’)

Genocide is defined as organised mass murder and crimes against

humanity characterised by the intention to exterminate individuals
because they belong to a particular national, ethnic, racial or religious
group. In the aftermath of a genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994
in which approximately 1 million Tutsis were slaughtered within the
space of 100 days by their Hutu compatriots. Thousands of Hutus were
arrested. Out of the 135,000 suspects jailed after the genocide, only
5,000 had been tried by 2002.

At the pace at which the trial was going, it would have taken about 200
years to prosecute the rest of those accused of various crimes during the
bloodletting. For this reason, the people of Rwanda looked to their past
for help in healing its wounds and set up traditional courts throughout
the country to deal with the trial of genocide perpetrators.

Gacaca (pronounced “gachacha”) which means open-air debate in the

Kinyarwanda language is a traditional justice system. It is a system of
participatory justice, in which accused persons stand trial before a panel
of judges that are chosen from their own communities.

95
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

Gacaca courts were common in pre-colonial Rwanda where feuding

clans would assemble to discuss problems and resolve differences
between them amicably, with village elders acting in the capacity of
judges. Victims are usually given an opportunity to confront their
assailants in public. Gacaca gatherings were meant to restore order and
harmony, and the establishment of the truth about what had happened,
the punishment of the perpetrator, or even compensation through a gift.
Although the latter elements could be part of a resolution, they were not
as important as the return to harmony between the lineages and a
purification of the social order. The reactivating of this grass-roots
scheme for arbitration and communal justice in Rwanda gave rise to
hopes that Gacaca and Abashingantahe (in Burundi) will greatly
contribute to restore the moral order that was lost when the genocide
began.

The central focus of Gacaca is truth rather than punishment. It is a

cleansing mechanism that brings people together in the same space so
that they can work through the history of their suffering. In doing this, it
is expected to move the wrongdoing from the subconscious of the victim
and promote both confession and forgiveness in a way that will ensure
that both the offender and the victim will allow bygones to be bygones.

2.5.3 Ubuntu

Ubuntu, one of African approaches of understanding humanity is a

traditional African philosophy associated with the Bantu of Southern
Africa that defines what it means to be truly human, and which offers us
an understanding of ourselves in relation with the world. The reasoning
behind Ubuntu is that there is a common bond between all human
beings and it is through this bond that we discover our own human
qualities through the interaction we have with our fellow human beings.
According to this Zulu philosophy, a person is a person through other
persons.

Thus, according to this philosophy, a person affirms his/her humanity

when he/she acknowledge that of others. Ubuntu teaches the essence of
respect, decency, and tolerance of others. Ubuntu calls on us to believe
and feel concerning others that: “Your pain is my pain, my wealth is
your wealth, and your salvation is my salvation.” In essence, Ubuntu,
addresses our interconnectedness, our common humanity, and the
responsibility to each other that flows from our connection.

Ubuntu speaks about wholeness and compassion. A person with Ubuntu

is welcoming, hospitable, warm and generous, and willing to share.
Such people are open and available to others, willing to be vulnerable
and affirming of others. They do not feel threatened that others are able

96
PCR211 MODULE 3

and good, for they have a proper self-assurance that comes from
knowing that they belong in a greater whole. They know that they are
diminished when others are humiliated, oppressed, or treated as if they
were less than who they are. Ubuntu gives people resilience, enabling
them to survive and emerge as human despite efforts by others to
dehumanize them.

For many Africans, Ubuntu has a strong religious significance. The

belief is that ancestors continue to exist amongst the living in the form
of spirits and they are our link to the Divine Spirit. If a person is in
distress or in need, he/she approaches his/her ancestors’ spirits and it is
they who will intercede on the person’s behalf with God. Therefore, it is
important to venerate the ancestors, and agree to respect your
community’s rules, undergo initiation to establish formal ties with both
the current community members and those that have passed on, and to
ensure harmony by adhering to the principles of Ubuntu in the course of
one’s life.

In his book, Nelson Mandela, the first President of post-apartheid South

Africa, narrates his profound conviction in Ubuntu approach. He noted
that he has always known that “deep down in every human heart, there
is mercy and generosity. No one is born hating another person because
of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must
learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for
love comes more naturally to the human heart than the opposite”. He
noted in addition that “Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but
never extinguished” (Mandela, 1994: 542). He also noted that it was
during those long and lonely years in prison that:
(my) Hunger for the freedom of my own people
became a hunger for the freedom of all people, white
and black. I knew that the oppressor must be liberated
just as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes
away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred;
he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-
mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away
someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not
truly free when my freedom is taken from me. The
oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their
humanity ( p. 544).

The fact that Mandela could still find humanity’s goodness in spite of all
the hardships that he was subjected to shows how capable human beings
can cultivate a culture of peace that goes beyond vengeance and hatred.
This position tallies with the observation of Mohandas Gandhi who had
observed that “forgiveness is more manly than punishment. Forgiveness
adorns the soldier, but abstinence is forgiveness only when there is

97
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

power to punish: it is meaningless when it pretends to proceed from a

helpless creature.”

2.6 Attributes of Peace Cultures in Africa

From the discussion on peace cultures that are found in different parts of
Africa, it has become evident that certain elements distinguish African
peace cultures from the modern framework of dispute settlement and
conflict resolution such as the law courts and arbitration panels and what
obtained before the emergence of such modern practices. The following
salient attributes that distinguish peace cultures from modern framework
of dispute settlement are listed below:
1. The focus of reconciliation is on reconciliation and
restoration of social harmony.
2. There is an emphasis on restorative penalties.
3. A problem is viewed as that of the whole
community or group.
4. The enforcement of decisions is secured through
social pressure.
5. There is no professional legal representation.
6. Decisions are confirmed through rituals aimed at
reintegration.
7. The rules of evidence and procedure are flexible.
8. The process is voluntary and decisions are based on
mutual consent.
9. Traditional arbitrators are appointed from within
the community on the basis of status or lineage.
10. There is a high degree of public participation in
peacemaking processes.

Class Activity
1. In what ways did colonialism and the Cold War increase conflicts
within Africa?

Self-Assessment Exercise
1. What is the nature of contemporary conflicts in Africa?
2. Describe each traditional peace cultures that you know
3. What are the key features of traditional practices in Africa?

2.7 SUMMARY

98
PCR211 MODULE 3

Traditional methods may not have outlived their utility, especially when
adapted to modern realities. Many African conflicts are more localized,
and that local conflict management is an essential ingredient in
addressing them. Traditional practices that are found in the African past
can guide future actions on development and deployment of conflict
resolution mechanisms. Locally initiated conflict management and
resolution processes often involve significant segments of local
authority structures, and often signify community desires for stability,
enhanced production, increased trade and other benefits. These practices
have the potential to assist in the transformation of conflicts that have
endured over the years across Africa to the benefit of all. We have
examined the institution of elders, Gachacha and Ubuntu as models of
African approaches to understanding humanity as processes of building
cohesion and humanness when it comes to building peace. None of them
is an absolute approach to understanding the life of human beings, but it
has its share and contribution for the peace culture.

2.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources

Broodryk, J. (2006) “Ubuntu African life Coping Skills: Theory and

Practice”. Commonwealth Council for Educational
Administration and Management (CCEAM) conference, South
Africa.

Hudson, J., & Galaway, B. (1996) Restorative Justice: International

Perspectives, 1, 3.

Jannie Malan (1997), Conflict Resolution Wisdom from Africa, Durban:

Accord,

Kelsall, Tim, ‘Truth, Lies, Ritual: Preliminary Reflections on the Truth

and Reconciliation Commission in Sierra Leone’, Human Rights
Quarterly, no. 27 (2005), pp. 361–91

Kiplagat, B., 1998, ‘Is Mediation Alien to Africa?’ Track Two, 7(1)
pp.4-7.

Kiplagat, B.A., 1995, ‘The African Role in Conflict Management and

Resolution’, in David R. Smock and Chester A. Crocker (eds.),
African Conflict Resolution: The US Role in Peacemaking,
Washington: United States Institute of Peace.

Maluwa, T., 1989, ‘The Peaceful Settlement of Disputes among African

States, 1963-1983: Some Conceptual Issues and Practical

99
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

Trends’, International and Comparative Law Quarterly, Volume

38.

Mandela, Nelson (1994) A Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography

of Nelson Mandela, Boston: Little, Brown & Co.

Mcknight, J.D. (1967) “Extra-descent Group Ancestor Cults in African

Societies”; Africa Xxxvii. pp.1-21.

Mukenge B. “Prospects for Peace in the East of the Democratic

Republic of Congo”; Peace and Conflict Monitor, September 07,
2009

Muller, A. “Ubuntu Philosophy as an African Philosophy for Peace”

www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=20361

Penal Reform International (2002), Access to Justice in Sub-Saharan

Africa: The Role of Traditional and Informal Justice Systems;
London: PRI.

Tutu, Desmond, No Future without Forgiveness (London: Rider, 1999)

United Nations, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

(OHCHR), Making Peace Our Own: Victims’ Perceptions of
Accountability, Reconciliation and Transitional Justice in
Northern Uganda (New York: United Nations, 2007),
http://www.ohchr.org/english/docs/northern_Uganda_august2007
.pdf

United Nations, The Rule of Law and Transitional Justice in Conflict

and Post-Conflict Societies: Report of the Secretary-General, UN
document S/2004/616, 23 August 2004

Waldorf, Lars, ‘Mass Justice for Mass Atrocity: Rethinking Local

Justice as Transitional Justice’, Temple Law Review, vol. 79, no.
1 (2006), pp. 1–88

Woodman, G., Culture and Culpability: The Potential of the Cultural

Defence. Commission on Folk Law and Legal Pluralism
Newsletter, 23, 46; October 1993.

100
PCR211 MODULE 3

2.9 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

1. Most of the conflicts that have been experienced and are still
taking place in Africa stemmed from long-suppressed agitations
for fundamental rights, social and political exclusion of minority
(and sometimes majority) groups, absence of economic
opportunities, and widespread corruption. Resolving them will
require enhancing respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms, promotion of sustainable development and alleviation
of distress.

2. Gacaca (pronounced “gachacha”) which means open-air debate

in the Kinyarwanda language is a traditional justice system. It is a
system of participatory justice, in which accused persons stand
trial before a panel of judges that are chosen from their own
communities. Gacaca (pronounced “gachacha”) which means
open-air debate in the Kinyarwanda language is a traditional
justice system.

Ubuntu, one of African approaches of understanding humanity is a

traditional African philosophy associated with the Bantu of Southern
Africa that defines what it means to be truly human, and which offers us
an understanding of ourselves in relation with the world.

From the discussion on peace cultures that are found in different parts of
Africa, it has become evident that certain elements distinguish African
peace cultures from the modern framework of dispute settlement and
conflict resolution such as the law courts and arbitration panels and what
obtained before the emergence of such modern practices. The following
salient attributes that distinguish peace cultures from modern framework
of dispute settlement are listed below:
11. The focus of reconciliation is on reconciliation and restoration of
12. There is an emphasis on restorative penalties.
13. A problem is viewed as that of the whole
community or group.
14. The enforcement of decisions is secured through
social pressure.
15. There is no professional legal representation.
16. Decisions are confirmed through rituals aimed at
reintegration.
17. The rules of evidence and procedure are flexible.
18. The process is voluntary and decisions are based on
mutual consent.

101
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

19. Traditional arbitrators are appointed from within

the community on the basis of status or lineage.
20. There is a high degree of public participation in
peacemaking processes.

102
PCR211 MODULE 3

UNIT 3 PEACE STUDIES

Unit Structure

3.1 Introduction
3.2 Learning Outcomes
3.3 Emergence of peace studies
3.4 Objections to a Specialised Study of Peace
3.5 Approaches to the Study and Teaching of Peace
3.6 Content of a Peace Studies Curriculum
3.7 Peace Focus in Degree Courses
3.8 Summary
3.9 References/Further Readings/Web Resources
3.10 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

3.1 Introduction

The subject of peace has become a very crucial matter in today’s world.
In relation to managing social conflicts, scholars and prominent
institutions have begun to pay cognizance to the subject matter of peace.
This unit therefore focuses on the study of peace, the criticism peace
studies faces as a course of study, the approaches to its teachings and its
importance.

3.2 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you would be able to:

• Understand the essence of Peace Studies

• Link the study and teachings of peace to other
disciplines in the Social sciences and the Arts
• Appreciate the basis of the initial objections to
specialised study of peace
• Understand how the study of peace can be
inculcated into other fields.

3.3 Emergence of Peace Studies

In the same way that international relations emerged after the

breakdown of world order that resulted in the First World War in 1914,
peace studies came out of the threat posed to human existence after the
bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the tail

103
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

end of the Second World War. Bert Roling, one of the pioneers of peace
studies, described it as ‘the science of survival’ which arose because the
potential destructiveness of war is not only a menace to international
order, but constitutes a threat to human existence as a whole.

According to Natukunda-Togboa (2006) peace research may be

conceived as a systematic, analytical and detailed study of different
forms of human hostilities, animosities and disagreements that engender
violent conflicts, which helps peace scholars to draw up a balance sheet
of all factors, forces and issues that ignite such occurrences.

In the beginning, peace research focused almost entirely on negative

concerns, such as how to avoid or control war, aggression, physical
violence and structural violence. Today, this has broadened to focus on
the positive peace concept to include micro structures (such as the
family) as well as macro structures, but for the most part, the field still
emphasizes elimination of the undesirable – such as war and violent
internal and domestic conflicts. Findings of peace research immensely
facilitate the process of preventing, managing and transforming conflict.
Further, the findings are the basis on which redemptive and restorative
prescriptions are made by peace workers, policy makers and social
change agents.

Dissemination of scientifically generated peace research findings is

capable of creating, for instance, general awareness among the populace
of the fact that cease-fire agreements are necessary conditions for peace
and that the sufficient condition for a sustainable and durable peace is
through the rigorous process of peace-building, which requires the
contributions of all and sundry. Another utilitarian use of peace research
is that sufficient understanding of the interplay of multifarious causes of
violent conflict helps to checkmate repeat occurrences in future and at
the same time strengthens the use of early warning signals by
scientifically identifying and neutralizing all forms of barriers to early
response.

Peace and Conflict Studies is an academic field which identifies and

analyses violent and nonviolent behaviours as well as the structural
mechanisms attending social conflicts with a view towards
understanding those processes which lead to a more desirable human
condition. A variation on this, Peace Studies (Irenology), is an
interdisciplinary effort aiming at the prevention, de-escalation, and
solution of conflicts. This is in contrast to war studies (Polemology)
which has as its aim the efficient and effective attainment of victory in
militarized conflicts. Disciplines involved may include Political Science,
Geography, Economics, Psychology, Sociology, International Relations,

104
PCR211 MODULE 3

History, Anthropology, Religious Studies, and Gender Studies, as well

as a variety of other emergent study areas.

3.4 Objections to a Specialised Study of Peace

As a subject peace studies did not arrive without controversy and

rejection. Three principal points raised by those who objected to its
consideration as a distinct field are particularly germane. First, there
were those who argued that peace is not a suitable subject for academic
study. Second, various defense scholars do not believe that peace
scholars sufficiently weigh the claims of security, justice and freedom
against the claims of peace and accused them of unrealistically refusing
to accept the need for States to possess offensive weapons in a world
where such weapons cannot be dis-invented. Third, conservative
political theorists and activists argue that teachers of peace studies use
their teaching opportunities to oppose political parties and policies that
rely on historically accepted security and defense values.

In response, peace scholars have maintained firstly that security and

peace need to be balanced against one another in the same way that
justice, freedom and peace need also to be held in equilibrium.
Moreover, since governments, religious leaders, and scholars have never
abdicated the right of moral judgment on peace and war, it would be odd
for any normal society to rebuff the contribution of scholars to critical
reflection on governmental policies involving matters of life and death,
as well as justice and freedom.

Secondly, they argue that if peace-studies is not value-free, the same is

true of all academic disciplines in the social sciences and it is bias, not
values, that have to be set aside. For that reason, they maintain that the
evidence of fairness and integrity of a subject and its practitioners
should be judged by its output. More fundamentally, they believe that
objection that is rooted in criticism over values is itself rooted in
political partisanship and it is odd within an academic field that people
dislike the politics of most of those who work in it.

Finally, they also stress that despite whatever its nomenclature may
suggest, the content of peace studies goes beyond the issues of war and
peace. There is hardly any academic who would now dispute the worth
of a systematic examination of reasons why the Third World is ravaged
by civil wars and why globalization which proponents have touted will
make life more meaningful is being so vehemently opposed by human
rights advocates.

In their academic work, peace scholars are united by a concern for peace
that has to be structured intellectually; related to the traditional

105
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

academic disciplines; grounded empirically; and embody the integrity

and fairness that scholarship demands. Within this approach, the studies
of peace which is an applied study where disciplines converge on is
problematic and also have a speculative dimension that seeks knowledge
for its own sake as well as uphold an objective stance that safeguards
truth.

What peace studies does is to take up problems of security and order as

well as tensions of justice and freedom that are already considered
through research within the social science disciplines. It deals with them
using the methods of the social sciences in an interdisciplinary and
coordinated way and with a unifying focus. The relevance of peace
studies lies in the way it combines the focus of a concern for peace with
research into problematic issues where human co-operation is crucial to
human development and where violence or disruption is threatened or
present.

3.5 Approaches to the Study and Teaching of Peace

There are four broad approaches to the organization of peace studies at

the various levels of education. These are:
1. The first is the introduction of peace studies as a subject at the
elementary and secondary school level
2. The second is to organise a degree in peace studies as well as
research into peace issues within a university department or
within the university course system.
3. The third is to organise a minor element of a degree around the
teaching of peace.
4. Finally, a fourth approach is to introduce a peace focus into
standard university subjects.

Peace research is distinguished from disciplines such as international

relations, and the mainstream of other social science disciplines.
Although there is a high degree of affinity, peace research unlike these
other fields, is not satisfied with only describing and explaining what
has already happened, or in only predicting what may happen in the near
future.

In addition, peace research strives to illuminate how visions of preferred

futures can be achieved. At the same time, peace research seeks to draw
broadly on all resources relevant to the achievement of preferred futures.
To achieve this challenging task, Chadwick Alger (1989) noted that
peace researchers position themselves to draw on a diversity of
resources by placing their object of research at the intersection of a
diversity of kinds of peace knowledge, peace perspectives and peace
actors.

106
PCR211 MODULE 3

3.6 Content of a Peace Studies Curriculum

If peace is the main focus of an academic study, the subject still has to
deal with issues that relate to a vast area of life ranging from the
behaviour of individuals to the interdependence of nations. Hence, for
peace to form the basis of a specific curriculum, it needs to be divided
into manageable parts or themes. There are many possible approaches to
this problem. It may take the form of dividing the study of peace into
themes such as: philosophy of peace and conflict resolution methods;
individual, family and school peace; international security; peace and
development; problems of politics and industrial society; and specific
case studies of regions in conflict (REC).

As individual courses, Philosophy of peace will explore the nature of

peace; relations of peace to justice and freedom; theories of just war and
pacifism; theories and methods of conflict resolution; case studies in
non-violence that may explore the activities of individuals like Mahatma
Gandhi and the Indian independence, the American civil rights
movement, and the evolution of the United Nations system, the
European Community, African Union, or ECOWAS example. Courses
organized to look at individual, family and school peace will focus on
psychology of personal peace; conditions of peace in families; forms of
family reconciliation; school organization and peace; roles of various
groups in school, including teachers and pupils; as well as the linkage
between schools and local communities (“Town” and “Gown”).

A course on international security will be expected to explore issues like

relations among states over common or collective security; the
origins/causes of peace and war among states; regional conflicts;
politics, strategy and ethics of nuclear weapons and other non-
conventional weapons; the relation between technology and the arms;
the role and limits of arms control and limitations; the economics of
defense spending; the roles of transnational organizations; and the
growth of global society.

A course on Peace and development will be concerned with the political

economy of development, the role of the state in the Third World, and
the place of ethnic and class factors in the functioning of new states;
North-South relations in the context of changing international relations,
the uneven allocation of world resources, and future threats to peace;
and will involve discussions on attitudes of justice and compassion in
industrialized countries compared to developing countries.

‘Politics and Industrial Society’ will focus on connecting citizenship and

political activity; explore the relationship between race, communal, and
multi-cultural issues and conflicts; social class and national community;

107
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

management, worker participation, and conciliation in industrial

organisations; as well as the origin of terrorism and attempts to contain
and eliminate it in contemporary societies. Finally, a course that is
described as ‘Case studies in Conflict Regions’ may examine conflict
“hot spots” in places like Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Central Europe,
Central America, the different regions of Africa, the Middle East,
among other case studies.

While the themes outlined above are dealt with in various university
departments, what makes the work of Peace Studies distinctive is that in
its approach to studying regions in conflict and to describing and
interpreting relations between groups, it keeps in mind the aims and
methods of conflict management and resolution.

3.7 Peace Focus in Degree Courses

For reasons that have to do with strategic allocation of resources, it

makes best sense for academics to set up a peace studies component in a
degree programme and make use of existing resources created for it.
Thus, a single course may provide a general introduction to the idea of
peace and values and techniques in peacemaking and make a reasonable
contribution to degrees in politics, sociology, education, philosophy and
theology. Moreover, if it is possible to put together a set of courses that
range from international politics to race relations as a minor option, they
may be held together by the conceptualization and values of peace and
peace-making.

Finally, it may be reasonable to suggest that a range of subjects can be

knitted together from the broad topics that belong to peace studies. In
putting together a degree component, it is important to ensure not only
that subjects cohere but that they add depth to research.

Many scholars choose and deal with the content of their courses in a
multifaceted way; and they do so with a multiple set of values. Where
this is the case, three broad areas of emphasis of peace are possible in a
number of academic subjects. First, in certain subjects, ideas connected
with peace as well as peace itself can be taken up naturally and without
struggling with relevancy. Secondly, issues can be looked at with
sensitivity to certain values that people cherish such as peace, justice
and freedom. Thirdly, values contained in the traditional treatment of
individual subjects can be examined in line with new sensitivities that
relate to peace.

This multifaceted approach to the examination of values that promote

peace or acts that threaten it brings in an important focus and value that
throw light on the subject matter of an academic course. It enables the

108
PCR211 MODULE 3

teaching of peace to be carried on within an academic discipline without

having to look for extra time and place in academic time-tables that may
already be over-crowded. It enables a peace focus and peace content to
be introduced naturally into subjects and fits in easily with
developmental and ecological themes which have grown in importance
with the expansion of academic syllabuses. Finally, a peace orientation
in academic teaching reaches many more students than could be reached
through formal peace studies courses.

By way of illustration, History taught with a peace focus can show for
instance how often the study of history has been organised around
humankind’s experiences with wars. Teachers can draw attention to the
profound approaches to periodisation that organise history around social
and economic development, the lives of ordinary people, the growth of
ideas, and the introduction and diffusion of technology. In dealing with
war, it will be sensible to remove the artificial romanticism of war while
emphasizing the accompanying cruelty and massive loss of lives that
has been associated with it instead. Teachers may also choose to show
that most wars are usually started in haste while conciliation has always
been underutilized or overlooked altogether.

In studying war and the sources of war, there are wonderful

opportunities for the teacher to analyze those factors that lead to war and
to ask students to suggest how they might be avoided in future. In the
process of this analysis, it is important to note the constant changing of
alliances among nations over time as well as to note the negative
stereotypes that conflict parties have tended to invent about one another
before and during wars all through history. Finally, in addition to
describing the characters and deeds of notable warriors and how they
shaped history through their deeds, it is very important to describe the
works of humane achievers such as Socrates, St. Augustine, Spinoza,
Kant, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil achievements of
some politico-military leaders.

Class Activity
1.its teachings citing examples of how it can be inculcated within social
science, arts and science courses?

Self-Assessment Exercise
1. What factors led to the emergence of peace studies?
2. Discuss the response of peace scholars to the objections held
against peace as a course of study?
3. What are the approaches involved in the study of peace?

109
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

3.8 Summary

In this unit our discussion has been based on the emergence and
strategies of developing peace as a course of study, its importance and
also the advantages of having peace and conflict as a course of study or
at the very least, a component of degree programmes. We also examined
the issues that made some people to object to its emergence as a distinct
field of study and how these constitute justifications for, rather than
meritorious arguments against the drive of its proponents for
specialization. Finally, we explored ways in which scholars could
structure their courses in order to produce students that are well
grounded traditionally, structurally and empirically in values that
engender or promote peace.

3.9 References/Further Readings/Web Resources

Bjerstedt, Ake. (ed.) Education for Peace in the Nineties: A Conference

Report. Peace Education Reports, No. 1, November 1990

Burns, R. J. and Aspeslagh, R. eds. (1996) Three Decades of Peace

Education Around the World: An Anthology. New York and
London: Garland Publishing,

Czempiel, Ernst-Otto, ‘Der Friede-Sein Begrifff, sein strategien, in Peter

Imbusch & Ralf Zoll eds (1996) Friedens-und Konfliktforschung;
Opladen: Leske Budrich.

Dreher, Diane (1991); The Tao of Inner Peace; Harper Perennial.

Evans, G. (1993) Cooperating for Peace: A Global Agenda for the 1990s
and Beyond. St Leonards: Allen and Unwin,

Galtung, J. (1969) “Violence, Peace and Peace Research”; Journal of

Peace Research, No. 3.

Galtung, J. (1996), Peace by Peaceful Means: Peace and Conflict;

Development and Civilization; London: Sage.

Graham Evans & Jeffery Newnham (1992), The Dictionary of World

Politics: A Reference Guide to Concepts, Ideas and Institutions.
London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.

110
PCR211 MODULE 3

Keene, Ann T. (1998), Peacemakers: Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kreidler, W. J. (1990) Elementary Perspectives 1: Teaching Concepts of

Peace and Conflict. Cambridge, MA: Educators for Social
Responsibility

Smoker, P. (1981), “Small Peace” Journal of Peace Research;

US Department of Justice (1996), Conflict Resolution Education: A

Guide to Implementing Programs in Schools; Youth-Serving
Organizations; and Community and Juvenile Justice Settings.
Washington DC: US Dept. of Justice.

111
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

3.10 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

Answer

1. In the same way that international relations emerged after the

breakdown of world order that resulted in the First World War in
1914, peace studies came out of the threat posed to human
existence after the bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki at the tail end of the Second World War. Bert
Roling, one of the pioneers of peace studies, described it as ‘the
science of survival’ which arose because the potential
destructiveness of war is not only a menace to international order,
but constitutes a threat to human existence as a whole

2. There are four broad approaches to the organization of peace

studies at the various levels of education. These are:
i. The first is the introduction of peace studies as a subject at the
elementary and secondary school level
ii. The second is to organise a degree in peace studies as well as
research into peace issues within a university department or
within the university course system.
iii. The third is to organise a minor element of a degree around the
teaching of peace.

iv. Finally, a fourth approach is to introduce a peace focus into

standard university subjects.

3. As a subject peace studies did not arrive without controversy and

rejection. Three principal points raised by those who objected to
its consideration as a distinct field are particularly germane. First,
there were those who argued that peace is not a suitable subject
for academic study. Second, various defense scholars do not
believe that peace scholars sufficiently weigh the claims of
security, justice and freedom against the claims of peace and
accused them of unrealistically refusing to accept the need for
States to possess offensive weapons in a world where such
weapons cannot be dis-invented. Third, conservative political
theorists and activists argue that teachers of peace studies use
their teaching opportunities to oppose political parties and
policies that rely on historically accepted security and defense
values.

112
PCR211 MODULE 3

UNIT 4 QUESTIONS ON PEACE-RELATED CONCEPTS

Unit Structure

4.1 Introduction
4.2 Learning Outcomes
4.3 Is Peace the Absence of War?
4.4 What is the Relationship between Peace and Pacifism?
4.4.1 Relative Pacifists
4.4.2 Absolute Pacifists
4.5 What is the Relationship between Peace and Active Non-
Violence?
4.6 What is the Relationship between Peace and Development?
4.7 Summary
4.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources
4.9 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s) Exercise

4.1 Introduction

It is a common thing to hear students and scholars talk about their

perceptions of peace and a number of concepts that share similar
applications with it. In most cases, the confusion is about whether such
concepts as ‘Pacifism’ and ‘Active Non-Violence’ are interchangeable
with ‘Peace’ or only serve to promote its attainment. There is also the
linkage that is often cited between ‘Peace’ and ‘Development’. In most
cases, this linkage is considered as very critical because it has come to
be believed that ‘Peace’ is a necessary condition for the emergence or
attainment of ‘Development’ in any modern society. In this Unit we will
examine the linkages between these concepts and ‘Peace’ in order to
improve our understanding of its essence.

4.2 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• Understand the linkage between ‘Peace’ and ‘War’

• Understand the linkage between ‘Peace’ and ‘Pacifism’
• Understand the linkage between ‘Peace’ and ‘Active Non-
Violence’
• Understand the linkage between ‘Peace’ and ‘Development’.

113
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

4.3 Peace as the Opposite or Absence of War?

Encyclopedia Britannica defines ‘peace’ as a “blessing” and its

opposite, ‘war’, as a “scourge”. However, Larsen (1976) is of the
opinion that peace is the absence of war and conflicts (which means the
absence of physical violence and other forms of conflicts). His
conception of peace as being not only the absence of war but also the
absence of conflicts falls short of a full description of the essence of
peace because it fails to expatiate on the possible range of events that
could be found within the broad space that exist between peace and
conflict at any level.

McAllister (1982) also provided a narrower scope than Larsen’s

‘absence of war’ view in his definition of peace as “an end to all
violence to ourselves and others.” Moreillon (1990) attempted to
provide some form of clarification when he stated that “Peace is not
simply the absence of war… (but) a dynamic process of collaboration
between all states and people…(that) must be based on a respect for
liberty, independence, national sovereignty, equality, respect for the law,
human rights, as well as a just equitable distribution of resources to meet
the needs of people”. This definition captures the essence of peace in its
fullest sense.

Going by Moreillon’s definition, peace goes beyond the mere absence of

war, and promotion of peaceful coexistence transcends the realm of
peace-making and peace-keeping alone. Peace addresses itself to the
relationships between humankind and the available resources on earth. It
is the equitable distribution of those resources to satisfy the needs of all
individuals. Peace is promoted by practices that emphasize equality and
justice. For most people, peace cannot be brought about by changes in
human consciousness alone because violent behavior and tendencies are
so deeply embedded in social structures built by humanity that they
cannot be overcome solely by people’s will or desire to have peace. For
Ginsburg and his associates (1995), if peace is to become pervasive in
the same way that war has been in human history, a resolute political
action that diminishes the structures of violence in society and the
international system is needed in large doses.

4.4 Peace and Pacifism

Pacifism describes opposition to war and other forms of organized

violence, expressed either in an organized form within a political
movement or as an individual ideology and it is closely associated with
negative peace. In their attempt to prevent war or repudiate any form of

114
PCR211 MODULE 3

justification for it, pacifists strive to achieve four major objectives,

namely:
• Establish a climate of feeling that is favorable to peace;
• eliminate or minimize the potential conflicts inherent in such
factors as economic competition, the quest for power, and fear of
foreign domination;
• provide means for the peaceful and non-adversarial settlement of
disputes such as mediation, arbitration, and trial procedures; and
• find ways to ensure observance of and compliance with the
peaceful settlements that are made.

Pacifism varies from a form that is absolute and doctrinal to a relative

and more practical form. Absolute pacifism assumes that its
practitioners will be able to maintain moral courage when faced with
aggression and provocation and that their opponents will be affected by
a constant return of good for bad. Absolute pacifists are against all
forms of wars (whether described as ‘conventional’, ‘unconventional’,
‘limited’, ‘just’ etc.) and against violence in any form whatsoever
(whether it is physical, psychological, structural, or cultural).

4.4.1 Absolute Pacifists

Absolute pacifists which include members of some religious groups,

such as the Mennonite Church and the Quakers, believe they can
convert aggressors to peaceful ways by setting an example of loving,
nonviolent behavior in line with the attitude expressed in the New
Testament “Sermon on the Mount”, but pacifism is much older than
Christianity, as it is found also in the teachings of Buddha, Confucius,
and other Eastern philosophers. A contemporary proponent of absolute
pacifism usually claims the status of conscientious objector when faced
with military service.

4.4.2 Relative Pacifists

Relative pacifists are not against the use of all forms of violence. They
are selective about the types of wars and forms of violence they oppose.
Most absolute pacifists stress the immorality of taking a person’s life by
another person. The philosophy of pacifism has been propounded
throughout history on grounds of morality, divine will, or economic and
social utility; the term itself, however, did not become popular until
early 20th century.

Because relative pacifists frown at the use of force and urge moral
persuasion while they also encourage passive resistance to achieve their
goals, they have often been criticized by those who insist that adopting
this approach may reinforce aggressive tendencies because passive

115
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

resistance may provoke frustration, resentment, and further oppression

on the part of an aggressor. Mohandas Gandhi's philosophy of
nonviolent resistance inspired the campaign for Indian independence,
global anti-colonial movements, and the civil rights movement in the
United States.

The central concept of Gandhi’s philosophy is satyagraha, which means

“following the Truth in a non-violent way”. It is sometimes translated as
non-violent resistance or as passive resistance. It means that people try
to make change happen without using violence. For example, they could
resist a law by not cooperating with it or by actively breaking it. They
do not, however, fight or resist violently when police or soldiers try to
arrest them or attack them. They simply do what they think is right and
accept the consequences of their actions. This kind of resistance takes
much courage and self-control.

Many pacifists believe that peace can be maintained only by a readiness

to use force only in certain extenuating circumstances that are usually
described as ‘defensive’. One of such approaches permits armed defense
against attack, but not assistance to other nations being attacked.
Proponents of the theory of collective security urge the formation of a
defensive coalition of peace-loving nations against violators of the peace
and are thus supportive of the formation and roles of international
organizations such as the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the League of
Nations, and the United Nations.

4.5 Peace and ‘Active Non-Violence’

Non-Violence is a way of life that is deeply rooted in spiritual tradition

that could be active or passive. Active Non-Violence (ANV) is an
effective political tactic that has been used in liberation struggles to win
national independence (India), build trade unions and stop wars in time
past. There are many definitions of ANV but they all have two key
points in common: Active Non-Violence means respect for life-all life,
including the life of an enemy or stranger; it is a vigorous and prompt
response to injustice.

ANV skills empower people to face their fears and challenge those in
power who are ruling in the interest of the few rather than in the interest
of the commonwealth. All such systems of injustice require peoples’
cooperation or passivity to continue. Therefore, when such cooperation
is withdrawn, the system collapses. Reconciliation, or the healing of
divisions is an essential component in building a just society and lasting
peace can only be established when former adversaries have been
reconciled and the bitter past and its attendant pain laid to rest.

116
PCR211 MODULE 3

A culture of non-violence is based on the values of love, compassion,

justice and harmony. It rejects use of violence as a means of dealing or
responding to conflict and preaches instead, communication, democratic
decision making and non-violent conflict resolution. ANV is the basis of
freedom, security and equitable relationships and a process for a life of
reconciliation.

A culture of non-violence nurtures inner peace and personal

transformation. In such a culture, children are taught conflict resolution
and respect for human rights both at home and in their schools. A
culture of non-violence encourages individual and group action for
social and structural change and in addition, it:
1. Rejects systems of oppression and call on governments to
dismantle all weapons or war and work for greater international
cooperation and equitable distribution of resources.
2. Embraces the non-violent understanding that is present in all
spiritual practices (people of faith are united in their quest for
peace and justice).
3. Recognizes the richness of diversity in societies. It is not a
homogenized culture because it embraces many varied cultures of
non-violence, and celebrates the non-violent traditions and
histories present within each society.

4.6 Peace and Development

Development is the most secure basis for peace. Even in situations

where there is an absence of war, no State is securely at peace. In
situations where there is want, no people can achieve lasting
development and this is the reason why traditional approaches to
development presuppose that it takes place under conditions of peace.
Development cannot proceed easily in societies where military concerns
are the most important pursuits. Because resources are devoted to
military production, this diminishes the prospects of development.

In addition, the absence of peace often leads societies to devote a higher

percentage of their budget to erecting massive physical security
structures rather than the development needs in health, education and
housing. Preparing for war absorbs a large amount of resources and
impedes the development of social institutions that could help to
safeguard smooth relationship among social groups.

Peace and development are interrelated and mutually reinforcing. As we

have pointed out in our earlier discussion on the types and components
of peace, peace includes not only the absence of war, violence and
hostilities at the national and international levels, but also the enjoyment
of economic and social justice, equality and the entire range of human

117
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

rights and fundamental freedoms within society. It also embraces the

whole range of actions reflected in concerns for security and implicit
assumptions of trust between nations, social groups and individuals. It
represents goodwill toward others and promotes respect for life while
protecting freedom, human rights and the dignity of peoples and of
individuals.

Peace cannot be realized under conditions of economic marginalization

and inequalities, denial of basic human rights and fundamental
freedoms, deliberate exploitation of large sectors of the population,
unequal development, and exploitative economic relations. Without
peace and stability, there can be no development.

Development as used in our context means total development, including

development in the political, economic, social, cultural and other realms
of human life as well as the development of the economic and other
material resources and the physical, moral, intellectual and cultural
growth of human beings. More directly, the increasingly successful
participation of women in societal activities as legally independent
agents will contribute to further recognition in practice of their right to
equality.

Development also requires a moral dimension to ensure that it is just

and responsive to the needs and rights of the individual and that science
and technology are applied within a social and economic framework that
ensures environmental safety for all life forms on our planet.

Class Activity
1. What are the basic differences between Peace and development?

Self-Assessment Exercise
1. What are the basic differences between Peace and Pacifism?
2. What are the basic differences between Peace and Active Non-
violence?

4.7 Summary

In this unit, we have dealt extensively with the concept of peace in terms
of its typologies, dimensions, historical development, usages, and
activities. At each level we have tried to draw out the salience of each
sub-concept and how it connects to peace as an overarching concept.

118
PCR211 MODULE 3

4.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources

ActionAid Policy Discussion Paper on Violent Conflicts (October,

2003)

Alger, C. F. 1989. “Peace Studies at the Crossroads: Where Else?”,

Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,
Vol. 50, No. 4, 117-127.

Brock-Utne, B. (1989) Feminist Perspectives on Peace and Peace

Education. Oxford: Pergamon Press,

Dreher, D. (1991), The Tao of Inner Peace. Harper: Perennial,

Galtung, J. (1969) “Violence, Peace and Peace Research” in Journal of

Peace Research, No. 3.

Galtung, J. (1988) “Twenty-five Years of Peace Research: Ten

Challenges.” In Johan Galtung ed.

Macy, J. (1991), World as Lover, World as Sey; Berkeley: Parallax

Press.

Wright, Quincy (1941), A Study of War; Chicago: University of

Chicago Press.

119
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

4.9Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

1. Pacifism describes opposition to war and other forms of

organized violence, expressed either in an organized form within
a political movement or as an individual ideology and it is closely
associated with negative peace. In their attempt to prevent war or
repudiate any form of justification for it, pacifists strive to
achieve four major objectives, namely:
i. Establish a climate of feeling that is favorable to peace;
ii. eliminate or minimize the potential conflicts inherent in such
factors as economic competition, the quest for power, and fear of
foreign domination;
iii. provide means for the peaceful and non-adversarial settlement of
disputes such as mediation, arbitration, and trial procedures; and
iv. find ways to ensure observance of and compliance with the
peaceful settlements that are made.

2. Active Non-Violence is a way of life that is deeply

rooted in spiritual tradition that could be active or passive.
Active Non-Violence (ANV) is an effective political tactic
that has been used in liberation struggles to win national
independence (India), build trade unions and stop wars in
time past. There are many definitions of ANV but they all
have two key points in common: Active Non-Violence
means respect for life-all life, including the life of an
enemy or stranger; it is a vigorous and prompt response to
injustice.
ANV skills empower people to face their fears and challenge those in
power who are ruling in the interest of the few rather than in the
interest of the commonwealth. All such systems of injustice
require peoples’ cooperation or passivity to continue. Therefore,
when such cooperation is withdrawn, the system collapses.
Reconciliation, or the healing of divisions is an essential
component in building a just society and lasting peace can only
be established when former adversaries have been reconciled and
the bitter past and its attendant pain laid to rest.

120
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

MODULE 4 ACTIVITIES IN PURSUIT OF PEACE

Unit 1 Elements of Peace Operations

Unit 2 Peacekeeping and Peacemaking
Unit 3 Peace Enforcement
Unit 4 Peacebuilding

UNIT 1 ELEMENTS OF PEACE OPERATIONS

Unit Structure

1.1 Introduction
1.2 Learning Outcomes
1.3 Elements and Components of Peace Operations
1.3.1 Peacemaking
1.3.2 Peacekeeping
1.3.3 Peacebuilding
1.4 The United Nations and Peace Operations
1.5 Interventions by Regional Organisations
1.6 Summary
1.7 References/Further Readings/Web Resources
1.8 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

1.1 Introduction

Activities that humans engage in while attempting to maintain global

peace are many and diverse. After the end of the cold war, the practice
of peacekeeping, developed during the cold war and based on the
consent and cooperation of the parties and impartiality of United
Nations forces, with resort to arms only in self-defence, has proved to be
effective in multidimensional operations where the parties not only
entered into negotiated agreements but demonstrated the political will to
achieve the goals established. However, where the climate was one of
hostility and obstruction instead of cooperation and political will, peace-
keeping came under heavy strains and pressures.

1.2 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• Introduce the students to the essence of UN peace

operations
• Identify the key elements of peace operations

120
PCR211 MODULE 4

• Identify the components of peace operations.

1.3 Elements and Components of Peace Operations

Peace operations in the United Nations (UN) involve three important

activities: conflict prevention and peacemaking; peacekeeping; and
peace-building. Long-term conflict prevention addresses the structural
sources of conflict in order to build a solid foundation for peace. Where
those foundations are crumbling, conflict prevention attempts to
authorize member countries to take military action in response to
international breaches of the peace.

When efforts to achieve a political agreement between the parties is

frustrated by one of the parties, determination to press for negotiated
cease-fires, and the force of events on the ground drove the United
Nations into situations in which mandates assigning peacekeeping tasks
simultaneously with limited enforcement actions. This has compelled
the UN to continuously reflect on the instruments available to the
international community in the efforts to maintain international peace
and security and to respond accordingly.

In 2008, Africa hosted 78, 975 peace operation personnel. For the sixth
year running, more personnel were deployed in Africa than in any other
region. Africa and Europe had the joint highest number of missions of
any region for that year. It was also the region with the highest
concentration of large operations because five of the nine missions in
2008 with over 5000 personnel were deployed in Africa. Although force
generation has proved a major problem in Africa, the increase in
personnel deployments between 2007 and 2008 was mainly due to
conflicts in Central and Eastern Africa, particularly the build-ups of the
African Union (AU)–United Nations Hybrid Mission in Darfur and the
AU Mission in Somalia and the launch of the European Union (EU)
Military Operation in Chad and the Central African Republic.

Table: Global distribution of peace operations and personnel

deployments, 2008

Source: SIPRI Factsheet July 2009

121
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

1.3.1 Peacemaking

Peacemaking addresses conflicts that are in progress. It involves

attempts to bring them to a stop by using the tools of diplomacy and
mediation. Peacemakers may be envoys of Governments (Diplomats),
groups of States, regional organizations or the United Nations, or they
may be unofficial and non-governmental groups, as was the case in the
negotiations leading up to the signing of a peace accord for
Mozambique.

Peacemaking may even be the work of a prominent personality, who is

working independently but is accepted on the basis of his/her track
records as an “elder statesman”. In essence, peacemaking involves
action to bring hostile parties to agreement, essentially through such
peaceful means as those spelt out in Chapter VI of the Charter of the
United Nations.

1.3.2 Peacekeeping

On its part, peacekeeping is a long time preoccupation of the UN that

has evolved rapidly from a traditional, primarily military model of
observing ceasefires and force separations after inter-State wars, to
incorporate a complex model of many elements, military and civilian,
working together to build peace in the dangerous environments that is
often created in the immediate aftermath of civil wars. A decision to
undertake peacekeeping leads to a United Nations’ presence in a conflict
theatre, but with the prior consent of the belligerents on both sides of the
conflict. The modus operandi normally involve United Nations military
and/or police personnel and in some cases, civilians as well.
Peacekeeping is a technique that expands the possibilities for both the
prevention of conflict and the making of peace.

1.3.3 Peacebuilding

Peacebuilding is a term that has a more recent origin. As used in the

Brahimi report, peacebuilding defines activities undertaken to
reassemble the foundations of peace and provide the tools for building
on those foundations something that is more than just the absence of
war.

Thus, peacebuilding includes but is not limited to reintegrating former

combatants into civilian society, strengthening the rule of law through
training and restructuring of local police, and judicial and penal reform;
improving respect for human rights through the monitoring, education
and investigation of past and existing abuses; providing technical

122
PCR211 MODULE 4

assistance for democratic development including electoral assistance

and support for press freedom; and promoting capacity building in
conflict resolution and reconciliation techniques.

Essential complements to effective peacebuilding include support for

the fight against corruption, the implementation of humanitarian
demining programmes, emphasis on human immunodeficiency
virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) education and
control, and action against other infectious diseases.

1.4 The United Nations and Peace Operations

Peace operations do not have a clear definition due to various

differences in practice, but there are some components that are crucial in
it definition. These are authorizing body, legitimation and aims. Thus
peace operations can be described in terms of the following according to
Centre for International Peace Operations;
- deployed by an international institution
- with the consent of the respective host country
- in order to defuse crisis situations, end violent conflicts and
secure peace in the long term

Peace operations can be deployed before, during or after a violent phase

of a conflict.

The United Nations (UN) is currently the principal agency that is

saddled with the responsibility for maintaining peace all over the world.
It was founded after World War II ended in 1945 and its mission is to
maintain world peace, develop good relations between countries,
promote cooperation in solving the world’s problems, and encourage
respect for human rights. As members of the UN, countries agree to
cooperate with one another and pledge to settle their disputes peacefully,
to refrain from using force or the threat of force against other countries.

The UN Security Council is responsible for maintaining international

peace, and for restoring peace when conflicts arise. Its decisions are
binding on all UN members and have the force of international law. It
has the power to define what constitutes a threat to security, to
determine how the UN should respond, and to enforce its decisions by
ordering UN members to take certain actions.

In an effort to resolve conflicts between countries, the Council’s first

step is to encourage the countries to resolve their differences without
resorting to violence. The Council can mediate a dispute or recommend
guidelines for a settlement. It can send peacekeeping troops into a
distressed area. If war breaks out, it can call for a ceasefire and can

123
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

enforce its decisions by imposing economic sanctions on a country, or

by authorizing joint military action.

UN peacekeeping forces play a neutral role in the safeguarding of global

peace and the threat of regional conflicts in several ways:
• They can go into an area of conflict as observers, making sure
agreements reached between opposing sides are being respected.
• They can provide a buffer zone or “corridor of safety” between
warring parties by physically placing themselves in the middle of
warring factions.
• They can provide a channel of communication by negotiating
with military officers on both sides.
• They can also monitor ceasefires, supervise elections, and
provide humanitarian aid.

In addition to peacekeeping missions, the UN can also authorize peace

enforcement operations. Unlike peacekeeping, peace enforcement
operations seek to repel international aggression, using military force if
necessary. Under chapter 7 of the UN charter, the Security Council may
reinforce them, usually in the form of diplomatic initiatives. Such
preventive action is a low-profile activity that may even go unnoticed
when successful because it involves quiet work by Governments,
diplomats and other State representatives, regional agencies, non-
governmental organizations, institutions and individuals from many
countries.

1.5 Interventions by Regional Organisations

Article 21of the Covenant of the League of Nations emphasized the vital
role of regional organisations for securing the maintenance of peace.
The Charter devotes Chapter VIII to regional arrangements for dealing
with matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and
security at the regional level. This is consistent with the current
Purposes and Principles of the United Nations. During the cold war, the
proper use of Chapter VIII and regional arrangements for peacebuilding
and resolving disputes was dormant mostly because members were
polarized along ideological blocs.

The United Nations Charter has no precise definition of the nature of

interventions that could be undertaken through regional arrangements
and agencies. The implication of this is that it makes interventions by a
group of States within a region to contribute to the maintenance of
international peace and security a very flexible one. Such interveners
could include treaty-based organizations (ECOWAS, SADC, EEC, etc.),
regional organizations that are established for mutual security and
defence (e.g., AU, OAS, NATO), organizations for general regional

124
PCR211 MODULE 4

development or for cooperation on a particular economic topic or

function, and groups created to deal with a specific political, economic
or social issue of current concern (e.g., ECOMOG).

In Africa, three different regional groups: The Organisation of African

Union (OAU) now African Union (AU), the League of Arab States and
the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) collaborated with the
UN in efforts to restore peace in Somalia. In Asia, the Association of
South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) worked with the UN on ending the
Cambodian civil war, and effort at ending war in Nicaragua was
initiated by leaders of the region under the auspices of the Organization
of American States (OAS), while the European Union (EU) and its
member States collaborated in ending the crisis in the Balkans (Albania,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia,
Montenegro, Serbia, and the European part of Turkey). These
achievements, especially the case of the ECOMOG intervention in
Liberia and Sierra Leone, show that regional arrangements can render
great services if their activities are undertaken in a manner consistent
with the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter as it relates to
preventive diplomacy, peace-keeping, peacemaking and post-conflict
peace-building.

Under the UN Charter, the Security Council will continue to have

primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security,
but regional action taken in collaboration with United Nations has not
only lightened the burden of the Council but also contributed to a deeper
sense of participation, consensus and democratization in international
affairs. Consultations between the United Nations and regional
arrangements or agencies could do much to build international
consensus on the nature of a problem and the measures that should be
taken to address it.

Class work
1.What are the key elements and justifications for launching a peace
operation?

Self-Assessment Exercise
1.What is a peace operation?
2.What kinds of interventions are possible within a peace operation?

125
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

1.6 Summary

United Nations’ peace operations have multiplied in number and

complexity over the years. United Nations personnel are routinely
involved in a wide spectrum of operations ranging from the monitoring
of traditional cease-fires to protection of humanitarian convoys, and
from the control of buffer zones to assistance in the implementation of
peace settlements. As expectations rise and more missions are deployed,
the United Nations is finding it increasingly necessary to adjust its
operation to meet situations as they evolve.

1.7 References/Further Readings/Web Resources

Boutros-Ghali, B., An Agenda for Peace: Preventive diplomacy,

peacemaking and peace -keeping. Report of the Secretary-
General, 31 January 1992, A/47/277 - S/24111,
http://www.un.org/Docs/SG/agpeace.html

Centre for International Peace Operations. Definition Peace Operation.

https://www.zif-berlin.org

Covey, J. Dziedzic, M. and Hawley, L. (2005) The Quest for viable

Peace. International Intervention and Strategies for Conflict
Transformation; Washington: USIP

Jeong, H.-W. (2002), Approaches to Peacebuilding, London:

Macmillan.

Jeong, H.-W. (2005), Peacebuilding in Post-conflict Societies: Strategy

and process, Boulder: Westview Press.

Knight, W. (2004), Peacebuilding Theory and Praxis, in: Keating, T.

and Knight, W. (Ed.), Building Sustainable Peace, Edmonton:
Prentice-Hall

Lederach, J. P. (1997), Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in

Divided Societies, Washington: USIP.

Miall, H., Ramsbotham, O. & Woodhouse, T. (2001) Contemporary

Conflict Resolution. The prevention, Management and
transformation of deadly conflicts, Oxford: OUP

Paris, R. (2005), At war's end: building peace after civil conflict,

Cambridge: Macmillan.

126
PCR211 MODULE 4

1.8 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

Answer

1. Peace operations can be described in terms of the following

according to Centre for International Peace Operations;

- deployed by an international institution

- with the consent of the respective host country
- in order to defuse crisis situations, end violent conflicts and
secure peace in the long term

Peace operations can be deployed before, during or after a violent phase

of a conflict.

2.Interventions by Regional Organisations and United Nations

127
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

UNIT 2 PEACEKEEPING

Unit Structure

2.1 Introduction
2.2 Learning Outcomes
2.3 Meaning of Peacekeeping
2.4 Features of Peacekeeping Contingents
2.5 Functions of Peacekeeping Contingents
2.6 Scope and Components of Peacekeeping Operations
2.7 Challenges of Contemporary Peacekeeping
2.7.1 Political Constraints
2.7.2 Lack of Capacity and Shortage of Funds
2.7.3 Failure to Act Promptly
2.7.4 Personnel
2.7.5 Logistics
2.8 Summary
1.9 References/Further Readings/Web Resources
2.10 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

2.1 Introduction

In the first two units of this course, we examined the concept of peace in
detail as well as the existing types and components of peace. Having
examined these, we will move on to examine a number of activities that
are tailored to the attainment of peace and peaceful outcomes in human
relationships, how they connect and what specific differences they have
and under what mechanisms they are evoked.

Peacekeeping is an activity that is usually carried out by a third party

military force and is designed to separate armed combatants in a civil
conflict and maintain a negotiated or proclaimed ceasefire.
Peacekeeping missions are often carried out under the auspices of the
United Nations (UN), or regional organisations such as NATO (the
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) or closer to home, the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which helped to restore
peace in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The missions of a peacekeeping force
may include provisions to monitor, police, or otherwise support
humanitarian intervention.

128
PCR211 MODULE 4

2.2Learning Outcome

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• Discuss peacekeeping in detail

• Identify factors that make peacekeeping a necessity
• Identify the major challenges that affect
peacekeeping missions.

2.3 Meaning of Peacekeeping

Peacekeeping describes non-belligerent use of neutral military force

under Chapter VI of the UN Charter, with the consent of all parties
concerned with the aim to assist warring parties in reaching a settlement.
Although peace-keeping has become widely known as one of the United
Nations most important contributions to the maintenance of peace and
security, this was neither foreseen in the original Charter nor anticipated
by founders of the United Nations. Rather, it emerged almost
unexpectedly through the imaginative midwifery of Secretary-General
Dag Hammarskjold after the stillbirth of collective security functions
induced by the seemingly frozen adversarial relations between the East
and West ideological blocs during the Cold War (Johansen, 1998).

Traditional peacekeeping missions try to maintain peace while the

parties negotiate a settlement. From these origins, classic peace-keeping
arose to become fundamentally different from conventional military
combat, whether under national or UN auspices. Although peace-
keeping forces normally include military as well as civilian personnel,
they usually engage in non-fighting field operations to maintain peace in
an area of potentially violent conflict. They implement cease-fire
agreements, facilitate the withdrawal of forces, and monitor tense
borders to prevent incidents from flaring into violent combat.

2.4 Features of Peacekeeping Forces

UN peacekeeping forces have a number of features. They are:

• Created from contingents voluntarily contributed
by national governments drawing upon their own
national armed forces,
• Placed under UN commanders often of a
nationality different from the national identity of
the peace-keepers in the field, and

129
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

• Financed by ad hoc arrangements relying upon voluntary

contributions or legally binding assessments not unlike the
allocations of the regular UN budget.
• Carry only light arms (Blue Helmets) or none at all (Blue Berets),

• Operate only with the consent of the government(s) ruling the

territory where they are deployed,
• Maintain strict neutrality amidst conflicting national claims
regarding the disputes that threaten the peace, and
• Fire weapons only as a last resort in self-defense.

Usually, peacekeeping forces are lightly armed and only for the purpose
of self-defense and as a rule, peacekeeping last as long as there exists
the possibility that armed combat might resume or that any other form
of conflict might re-escalate.

2.5 Functions of Peacekeeping Contingents

Peacekeeping aims to help countries torn by conflict create conditions

for sustainable peace. UN peacekeepers including soldiers and military
officers, police and civilian personnel, monitor and observe peace
processes that emerge in post-conflict situations and assist conflicting
parties to implement the peace agreement they have signed. The term
“peacekeeping operations” covers a broad range of duties carried out by
peacekeeping forces, which according to Demurenko and Nikitin (1996)
include but are not limited to:
• providing the military part of ceasefire agreements, armistices or
other peaceful conflict resolution methods, including systems of
ceasefire lines, demilitarized and buffer zones, reduced-arms
zones, and types of special status regions;
• assisting in the exchange of territories, if specified by a treaty;
• helping to set up refugee camps and assembly points for
displaced persons;
• maintaining law and order to help to organize the activities of
civilian authorities within their zones of responsibility;
• investigating complaints and claims in regard to armistice
violations or violations of ceasefire agreements;
• Organizing where appropriate, the collecting, destruction and
monitoring of certain categories of weapons (e.g. small arms or
light weapons).

2.6 The Scope and Components of Un Peacekeeping Operations

Although the word ‘peacekeeping’ is not in the UN Charter, the UN

Security Council has deployed over 50 peacekeeping operations into
conflict and post-conflict situations since 1948. Known as ‘blue

130
PCR211 MODULE 4

helmets’ or ‘blue berets’, UN peacekeeping personnel are made up of

contingents from several countries. They patrol buffer zones between
hostile parties, monitor ceasefires, and assist hostile populations in their
search for durable peace.

In recent years, the scope of peacekeeping has widened to include larger

numbers of civilians as civilian police officers, electoral experts and
observers, de-miners, human rights monitors, and specialists in civil
affairs and communications. This multi-dimensional involvement
became noticeable when the UN realised that rebuilding societies re-
emerging from complex conflicts, required much wider efforts than
patrolling buffer zones.

The emergence of child soldiers, mass rapes, genocides and other such
forms of modern warfare is what moved the international community
beyond the strictly military agenda to one that focused more on human
rights and included a wider range of stakeholders, especially
incorporating women and gender balances. During the 1980s and 1990s
UN forces helped to restore peace in several regional conflicts. Their
accomplishments included helping to maintain cease-fires following the
Iran-Iraq War in 1988 and following the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and
Herzegovina during the mid- and late-1990s. Since 2000, UN
peacekeepers have worked to restore stability in places like East Timor,
Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Haiti, Burundi and Congo DRC.

2.7 Challenges of Contemporary Peacekeeping

2.7.1 Political Constraints

Since the end of the Cold War, many western governments have become
increasingly reluctant to commit their national troops to multilateral
peacekeeping missions unless they have key national interests at stake,
because of the political storm that would erupt back home if there are
casualties among their soldiers. This trend became evident after the ill-
fated intervention by American troops in Somalia in 1993 and was
displayed quite vividly again in Kosovo when most allied countries
were unwilling to provide ground troops to the NATO campaign.

The fact that France did not intervene after the military coup in Côte
d’Ivoire is part of the trend. Because of this political consideration,
private military companies have shown a willingness to intervene in
many of the hostile environments because they do not suffer the same
political constraints as governments with regard to incurring casualties.
As opposed to national troops, there is no public outcry when privately
contracted military personnel are used because their motivation is based
on the financial rewards that they stand to gain.

131
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

2.7.2 Lack of Capacity and Shortage of Funds

The UN and other multilateral organizations do not have the capacity or

the required funds to cope with providing for peacekeepers on a
continual basis in many of the conflict zones around the world. The UN
does not have its own army, so the Security Council borrows forces for
each mission from the military and police personnel of member
countries. Although the number of UN troops deployed grew from
10,000 in 1989 to 70,000 in 1995, it had fallen to 19,000 by 1998. In
2004 there were nearly 59,000 peacekeepers serving in sixteen UN
operations and by 2004, troops from nearly 130 countries had served in
59 peacekeeping operations, and more than 1,800 peacekeepers had died
in the line of duty.

Peacekeeping forces are funded by special fees paid by UN members.

The General Assembly must approve the funds before any peacekeeping
operations can be launched. Lack of funds is the greatest constraint
against deployment of peacekeeping forces. As peacekeeping operations
have expanded, they have required more and more money. Because of
these capacity problems, private security companies are now seen as
offering a more cost-effective way of providing the same service.

2.7.3 Failure to Act Promptly

Another problem that is reducing the effectiveness of peacekeeping by

UN and other international organizations is their inability to act quickly
when crises arise and to deploy peacekeepers quickly in order to reduce
the potential impact of such crises. Because they are political bodies that
require consensus on decision-making and are administered by large
bureaucratic institutions, they can be slow to respond even when there is
sufficient advance warning of a looming crises. The process of getting
agreements and mobilizing contingents to conflict zones in time is
extremely difficult. The UN does not have a rapid deployment stand-by
force that can be used in such instances.

2.7.4 Personnel

Member States of the United Nations are keen to participate in peace-

keeping operations. However, while military observers and infantry are
readily available and sometimes surplus to requirements, logistic units
present a greater problem, as few armies can afford to spare such units
for an extended period. In addition, although peacekeeping requires that
civilian political officers, human rights monitors, electoral officials,
refugee and humanitarian aid specialists and Civilian Police (CIVPOL)

132
PCR211 MODULE 4

become as actively involved as the military and police personnel have

proved increasingly difficult to obtain in the numbers required.

2.7.5 Logistics

Not all governments can provide their battalions with the equipment
they need for operating in peacekeeping operations abroad. While some
equipment is provided by troop-contributing countries, a great deal of
equipment has to come from the United Nations, including equipment to
fill gaps in under-equipped national units. The United Nations has no
stockpile of such equipment.

Class Work
What are the key challenges to successful peacekeeping interventions?

Self-Assessment Exercise
1. What is peacekeeping?
2. Mentioned and state Chapter VI of UN Charter
peacekeeping?
3. What are the primary roles of peacekeeping
contingents?

2.8 Summary

As the international conflict climate is changing, peace-keeping

operations are also increasingly undergoing changes and confronting
challenges in the process of helping to implement ceasefires and
settlements that have been negotiated by interveners. The difficulties in
securing resources have sometimes led to costly delays in deployment of
peacekeeping forces in emergency situations that required prompt action
with dire consequences. It is therefore important that the necessary
capabilities for effective interventions are reliably available when they
are needed and can be deployed with the speed dictated by situations in
a conflict theatre.

2.9 References/Further Readings/Web Resources

133
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

“Peacekeeping: Cost Comparison of Actual UN and Hypothetical U.S.

Operations in Haiti”, United States Government Accountability
Office, Report to the Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations, Committee on International Relations, House of
Representatives, GAO-06-331, February 2006.

Andrew M., “Peace on Earth? Increasingly, Yes.” The Washington Post,

28 December 2005.

James Dobbins et al. (2005), “The UN’s Role in Nation-Building: From

the Congo to Iraq”, RAND Publications.

The Challenges Project (2005), “Meeting the Challenges of Peace

Operations: Cooperation and Coordination”, Phase II Concluding
Report 2003-2006, Elanders Gotab, Stockholm,.

William J. Durch et al. (2003), “The Brahimi Report and the Future of
UN Peace Operations”, The Henry L. Stimson Center.

134
PCR211 MODULE 4

2.10 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

Answer

1. Peacekeeping describes non-belligerent use of neutral military

force under Charter, of the UN with the consent of all parties
concerned with the aim to assist warring parties in reaching a
settlement.
2. Chapter VI of the UN Charter, with the consent of all parties
concerned with the aim to assist warring parties in reaching a
settlement.
3. UN peacekeeping personnel are made up of contingents from
several countries. They patrol buffer zones between hostile
parties, monitor ceasefires, and assist hostile populations in their
search for durable peace.

In recent years, the scope of peacekeeping has widened to include larger

numbers of civilians as civilian police officers, electoral experts and
observers, de-miners, human rights monitors, and specialists in civil
affairs and communications. This multi-dimensional involvement
became noticeable when the UN realised that rebuilding societies re-
emerging from complex conflicts, required much wider efforts than
patrolling buffer zones.

135
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

UNIT 3 PEACEMAKING AND ENFORCEMENT

Unit Structure

3.1 Introduction
3.2 Learning Outcome
3.3 Meaning of Peacemaking
3.4 Meaning of Peace Enforcement
3.5 Types of Enforcement Action
3.6 Peace Enforcement by Proxy
3.7 Summary
3.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources
3.9 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

3.1 Introduction

Peacemaking involves activities such as negotiations, mediation, third

party intervention, shuttle diplomacy, and so on that lead up to a peace
agreement. On the other hand, peace enforcement is a term which
indicates the employment of military power beyond to enforce
agreements against any party violating such agreements reached after
peacemaking efforts in line with the intension of the founders of the
United Nations who intended it to take effective and collective measures
for the removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of
aggression or other breaches of the peace.

3.2 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• Differentiate between peacemaking and peace

enforcement
• Identify actions that could be taken to address
breaches of the peace
• Understand why the UN sometimes has to enforce
peace by proxy
• Identify various types of enforcement action.

3.3 Meaning of Peacemaking

According to the UN, peacemaking is “action to bring hostile parties to

agreement, essentially through such peaceful means as those foreseen in

136
PCR211 MODULE 4

Chapter VI of the Charter of the United Nations; Pacific Settlement of

Disputes”. In this sense, peacemaking amounts to diplomatic effort
intended to move a violent conflict into nonviolent dialogue, where
differences are settled through representative political institutions. The
intention of peacemaking is thus to end the violence between the
contending parties. Peacemaking can be done through negotiation,
mediation, conciliation, and arbitration.

Outside the context of the United Nations, peacemaking is sometimes

used to refer to a stage of conflict, which occurs during a crisis or a
prolonged conflict after diplomatic intervention has failed and before
peacekeeping forces have had a chance to intervene. In this context
peacemaking is an intervention during armed combat. As a form of
conflict resolution it focuses on establishing equal power relationships
that will be strong enough to pre-empt future conflict, and establishing
some means of agreeing on ethical decisions within a community that
has previously experienced conflict. When applied in criminal justice
matters it is usually called transformative justice. When applied to
matters that do not disrupt the community as a whole, it may be called
mediation.

In terms of methodology, peacemaking involves activities such as

negotiations, mediation, third party intervention, shuttle diplomacy, and
so on that lead up to a peace agreement. Article 33 of the UN Charter
specifies, “Negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration,
judicial settlement, (and) resort to regional agencies or arrangements” as
modes of peaceful intervention in violent conflicts. Articles 41 and 42 of
the Charter also allow for sanctions, blockading, and violent
intervention in order to restore the peace between warring states.
International law provides another channel through international courts
such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International
Criminal Court (ICC).

The process of peacemaking is distinct from the rationale of pacifism or

the use of non- violent protest or civil disobedience techniques. Those
who master the nonviolent techniques under extreme violent pressure,
who lead others in such resistance, have demonstrated the rare capacity
not to react to violent provocation in kind, and are skilled in the art of
keeping a group of people suffering from violent oppression peaceful
despite their difficult experience. When they have established a track
record of not advocating violent responses, it is these leaders who are
usually most qualified for peacemaking when conflict breaks out
between other groups. Examples of such individuals are Mohandas
Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and former President Nelson Mandela
of South Africa who became President after a long period of

137
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

incarceration but refrained from retaliating against officials of the ousted

apartheid regime.
3.4 Meaning of Peace Enforcement

Under chapter 7 of the UN charter, the UN can authorize military action

to enforce its resolutions. Peace enforcement is a term introduced by
Boutros-Ghali in his Agenda for Peace (1992), which means to employ
military power beyond that of peace-keepers to enforce agreements
against any party violating such agreements. The founders of the United
Nations intended the body to “take effective collective measures for the
removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of
aggression or other breaches of the peace” (Article 1).

The determination of the United Nations to suppress aggression and

other threats to peace has to be understood in the context of the
preceding world war. “Peace Enforcement” therefore covers actions,
ranging from positive inducements to UN military coercion taken under
Chapter VII of the Charter, to ensure that states comply with the
prevailing norms of peace and Security Council decisions for the
maintenance of international peace and security.

The term frequently refers to economic sanctions or military action

against a country in accord with procedures outlined in Chapter VII of
the Charter, but it can also include the use of international war crimes
tribunals and domestic courts to enforce international law on individuals
and states.

International intervention by way of enforcement can be used to prevent

the escalation of a domestic dispute from jeopardizing the security of
other states. The possibility of an intra-state crisis spilling over state
boundaries can be considered by the Security Council to “endanger the
maintenance of international peace and security” (Article 34) or mean a
“threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression” (Article
39), thus justifying resort to the provisions of Chapters VI and VII of the
Charter, respectively.

A major question is whether the system of collective security should be

activated in intra-state crises only when the security of other states is
threatened or whether human suffering is enough to launch a military
operation to provide relief and save lives. The latter option is chosen
when large-scale civil strife, famine, gross violation of human rights,
and internal displacement of people are defined as threats to
international peace and security and enforcement actions are
subsequently initiated under Articles 40-43 of the UN Charter. These
actions range from “provisional measures to prevent the aggravation of
the situation” to collective non-military and military sanctions.

138
PCR211 MODULE 4

3.5 Enforcement Action

The UN has considerable potential for conflict prevention and conflict

resolution, but it is obvious that it has a limited mandate when it comes
to violent conflicts, and disputes that are internal to member states.
Nevertheless, the organization has been involved in conflicts in
countries such as the Congo, Cyprus, Lebanon, Somalia, and
Guatemala, and has sent observer missions to Palestine, Kashmir,
Cambodia, Afghanistan, and El Salvador. Over the years, the UN has
developed considerable competence in peace-keeping, but not in
peacemaking or in peacebuilding. It is therefore necessary to continue
exploring ways to advance the UN's role as peacemaker. The UN has
also strived to develop an early warning capability that will enable it
address the issue of conflict prevention through early and timely
intervention.

The concept of collective security contained in the UN Charter provides

that if peaceful means fail to bring about an end to hostilities, the
measures provided in its Chapter VII should be used, after a decision is
taken at the level of the Security Council, to maintain or restore
international peace and security in the face of a “threat to the peace,
breach of the peace, or act of aggression”. In an effort to invoke this
power to end the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the Security Council
authorized Member States to take measures on its behalf to end the Iraqi
occupation.

The UN has exercised two intervention options in the past: traditional

peacekeeping or large-scale collective enforcement action. Urquhart
suggests that a third strategy of international military operation is
needed somewhere between peace-keeping and large-scale enforcement.
It would aim to put an end to random and uncontrolled violence and
provide a reasonable degree of peace and order so that a conciliation and
settlement process could be undertaken. Such armed police actions
would use highly trained but relatively small numbers of troops and
would not have military objectives as such. Unlike peacekeeping forces
they would be required to take certain combat risks and if necessary to
use a limited degree of force. (Urquhart, 1993: 93-4)

Ceasefires that are brokered by concerned governments or multilateral

organizations are usually agreed to but are seldom complied with. This
is why the United Nations has sometimes been called upon to send
forces to restore peace and uphold such ceasefire agreements. This task
may sometimes exceed the mission of traditional peacekeeping forces
and the expectations of peacekeeping force contributors. Consequently,

139
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

the mission of military contingents that are assembled under Article 43

is to respond to imminent or outright aggression.
Although forces under Article 43 may never be sufficiently large or well
equipped to deal with “threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of
aggression” by a major military power that is equipped with
sophisticated weapons of mass destruction, they would nonetheless be
useful in meeting any threat that is presented by a military force of a
lesser capacity.

Peace enforcement appears particularly applicable in cases of cease-fires

which are agreed to but very quickly violated, often by militants who
want to upset the peace process and who succeed because of the
response by the other side to the provocation. If the United Nations has
the necessary presence to enforce the agreement, such provocations
could be prevented and if they happen, the United Nations could take
the necessary steps against the provocateur, thus avoiding the escalation
which otherwise almost always results from provocation. However, the
task of peace enforcement can on occasions exceed the mission of
peace-keeping forces and the expectations of peace-keeping force
contributors. Peace enforcement units may have to be more heavily
armed than normal peacekeeping forces, and prepared and trained for
armed action.

3.6 Enforcement by Proxy

The United Nations management of crisis situations involving the

maintenance of international peace has been characterized by the fact
that the enforcement device considered in Article 42 of the UN Charter
remained inoperative as a consequence of the Cold War era
confrontation. The great powers, in mistrust of each other, were unable
to conclude the special agreements which would have made armed
forces permanently available to the Security Council. Despite the
changed reality in the world's political balance, the fulfillment of the
conditions permitting the United Nations, with forces under its
command and control, to take prominent enforcement action against
those responsible for threats to the peace, breaches of the peace or acts
of aggression is still difficult. As the Secretary-General lamented in the
Supplement to the Agenda for Peace, "neither the Security Council nor
the Secretary-General at present has the capacity to deploy, direct,
command and control operations for this purpose (enforcement action),
except perhaps on a very limited scale.

The consequence of this set of circumstances consists in the fact that the
United Nations, not being in the condition to intervene effectively in
many international and internal conflicts flaring throughout the world,
has in fact left the management of these crisis to the individual

140
PCR211 MODULE 4

enforcement action of States operating extra organization, in the

framework of their traditional and reciprocal inter-power relations to
which international humanitarian law of armed conflicts naturally
applies.

However, in some cases, the United Nations has divested itself

explicitly of its responsibility to lead enforcement actions, and has
instead "authorized" member States to undertake enforcement actions by
use of force. This was the case in Korea, in 1950, when the Security
Council, by Resolution 82, recommended that Member States provide
assistance to the Republic of Korea to repel the armed attack from North
Korea and to restore international peace and security in the area. In
1990, the Security Council also authorized a group of member States to
undertake an enforcement action making use of "all necessary means" in
response to Iraqi aggression against Kuwait if Iraq refuses to order the
withdrawal of its troops from Kuwaiti territory.

In 1993, the Security Council authorized member States to undertake

enforcement action aimed at certain more specific goals. This happened
in Somalia, when the Security Council, referring to Chapter VII, by
Resolution 794 (1992) welcomed and authorized the offer by member
States that action should be taken, by use of all means necessary, in
order to establish a secure environment for humanitarian relief
operations.

In the case of Rwanda, the Security Council welcomed the offer of

member States to cooperate with the Secretary-General in order to
achieve the humanitarian objectives of the United Nations through the
establishment of a temporary operation under national command and
control. Consequently, the Council, acting under Chapter VII of the
Charter, authorized member States to conduct such operations resorting
to all necessary means until the United Nations Force (UNAMIR) was
brought up to the necessary strength.

Similarly, in the case of Haiti, the Security Council acting under Chapter
VII of the Charter authorized member States to form a multinational
force under unified command and control and to use all necessary means
to facilitate the departure of the military leadership and the restoration of
democracy in Haiti. It is generally acknowledged that enforcement
actions carried out by States outside their national borders and in the

Class Work
1. What is the relationship between peacemaking and peace
enforcement?

141
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

Self-Assessment Exercise
1. What is the difference between peacemaking and peace
enforcement?
2. What conditions necessitate enforcement actions by the United
Nations?
3. What makes enforcement by proxy necessary?

3.7 Summary

Peacemaking and enforcement action usually occurs in a hostile

environment where consent is absent, but where the United Nations
Security Council authorises the use of force to protect non-combatants
and humanitarian aid workers, and/or to enforce compliance with
internationally sanctioned resolutions or agreements out of humanitarian
considerations. Peace enforcement is normally associated with Chapter
VII of the UN Charter, entitled Acts with Respect to Threats to the
Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression. The most
important factor in both peacekeeping and peace enforcement is the
impartiality of the peacekeepers.

The UN has engaged in both traditional peacekeeping as well as large-

scale collective enforcement action. It is suggested that a third strategy
of military operation, somewhere between peace-keeping and large-
scale enforcement, is needed. Such a strategy would focus on putting an
end to random and uncontrolled violence and provide a reasonable
degree of peace and order so that a conciliation and settlement process
could be promptly undertaken in the event of a breach of peace or threat
to global peace.

3.8 References/Further Readings/Web Resources

Berman, E. (1996) Towards a Future for Civilian Peacekeeping

Training: The UN Perspective, IDP Monograph Series, No.5,
Pretoria.

Crocker, C.A. & Hampson, F.O. with Aall, P. eds (1996) Managing
Global Chaos: Sources of and Responses to International
Conflict. Washington, D.C.: US Institute of Peace

142
PCR211 MODULE 4

Harris, G. (1999). The cost of armed conflict in developing countries, in

G.T. Harris (ed.) Recovery from armed conflict in developing
countries, London: Routledge.

Hooper, R. & Taylor, M. (1999) Command from the Saddle: Managing

United Nations Peace-building Missions, Fafo Report 266, Fafo
(Institute for Applied Social Science, Oslo).

Kriesberg, L. (1998) Constructive conflicts: From escalation to

resolution. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield

Lt.Gen. Roméo Dallaire (2004) Shake Hands with the Devil: The
Failure of Humanity in Rwanda; London: Arrow Books

Mc Hugh, G. & Bessler, M. (2006) Humanitarian Negotiations with

Armed Groups: A Manual for Practitioners. New York: United
Nations

Médecins Sans Frontières France (1993) ‘Communication on the

Violations of Humanitarian Law in Somalia during UNOSOM
operations’, New York: MSF.

Minear, L. & Chellia U. (1992) UN Coordination of the International

Humanitarian Response to the Gulf Crisis, Thomas J. Watson
Institute for International Studies, Occasional Paper 13,
Providence.

Minear, L. (1997) Humanitarian Action in Peacekeeping Operations,

Journal of Humanitarian Assistance, http://www-
jha.sps.cam.uk/a/a016.htm.

Northrup, Terrell A. 1989. "The Dynamic of Identity in Personal and

Social Conflict." In Louis Krieberg, Terrell A. Northrop, and
Stuart J. Thorson (eds), Intractable Conflicts and their
Transformation. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.

UN (1996) Multidisciplinary Peacekeeping: Lessons from Recent

Experiences (Lessons-Learned Unit, Department of Peacekeeping
Operations), New York: United Nations.

UN (2000) Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations,

A/55/305, 12 August 2000, New York: United Nations.

Urquhart, Brian (1993) “Security After the Cold War.” In Adam Roberts
and Benedict Kingsbury (eds), United Nations, Divided World:

143
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

The UN's Roles in International Relations; Oxford: Clarendon

Press, pp. 81-103.

144
PCR211 MODULE 4

3.9 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

Answer

1. Under chapter 7 of the UN charter, the UN can authorize military

action to enforce its resolutions. Peace enforcement is a term
introduced by Boutros-Ghali in his Agenda for Peace (1992),
which means to employ military power beyond that of peace-
keepers to enforce agreements against any party violating such
agreements. While Peacemaking According to the UN,
peacemaking is “action to bring hostile parties to agreement,
essentially through such peaceful means as those foreseen in
Chapter VI of the Charter of the United Nations; Pacific
Settlement of Disputes”. In this sense, peacemaking amounts to
diplomatic effort intended to move a violent conflict into
nonviolent dialogue, where differences are settled through
representative political institutions.

2. The UN has considerable potential for conflict prevention and

conflict resolution, but it is obvious that it has a limited mandate
when it comes to violent conflicts, and disputes that are internal
to member states. Nevertheless, the organization has been
involved in conflicts in countries such as the Congo, Cyprus,
Lebanon, Somalia, and Guatemala, and has sent observer
missions to Palestine, Kashmir, Cambodia, Afghanistan, and El
Salvador. Over the years, the UN has developed considerable
competence in peace-keeping, but not in peacemaking or in
peacebuilding. It is therefore necessary to continue exploring
ways to advance the UN's role as peacemaker. The UN has also
strived to develop an early warning capability that will enable it
address the issue of conflict prevention through early and timely
intervention

3. The United Nations management of crisis situations involving the

maintenance of international peace has been characterized by the
fact that the enforcement device considered in Article 42 of the
UN Charter remained inoperative as a consequence of the Cold
War era confrontation. The great powers, in mistrust of each
other, were unable to conclude the special agreements which
would have made armed forces permanently available to the
Security Council.

145
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

UNIT 4 PEACEBUILDING

Unit Structure

4.1 Introduction
4.2 Learning Outcome
4.3 Peacebuilding
4.4 Components of Peacebuilding
4.5 Types of Peacebuilding
4.5.1 Political Peacebuilding
4.5.2 Structural Peacebuilding
4.5.3 Social Peacebuilding
4.5.4 Community-Based Peacebuilding
4.6 Regional Arrangements for Peacebuilding
4.7 Essence of Post-Conflict Peacebuilding
4.7.1 Disarmament and Demobilization
4.8 Summary
1.9 References/Further Readings/Web Resources
1.10 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

4.1 Introduction

Post-conflict peace-building involves actions that are consciously taken

to identify and support local structures of governance in such a way that
they will tend to strengthen and solidify peace and help a society to
avoid a relapse into conflict. As we have noted earlier, preventive
diplomacy seeks to resolve disputes before violence breaks out;
peacemaking and peace-keeping are required to halt conflicts and
preserve peace once it is attained. If all these efforts are successful, they
strengthen the opportunity for post-conflict peace-building, which can
prevent the recurrence of violence among nations and peoples.

4.2 Learning Outcome

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• To understand the meaning of peacebuilding

• To define the concept of peacebuilding
• To identify the components of peacebuilding
• To identify the tasks and main actors involved in a peacebuilding
process.

146
PCR211 MODULE 4

4.3 Peacebuilding

Peacebuilding describes series of long-term activities that are focused on

building stable communities and peaceful societies where people thrive
and do not operate under constant fear of violence. Bringing this about
requires building on a solid foundation of justice and reconciliation. The
process therefore involves concerted efforts to strengthen and re-
establish good relationships where they have broken down, and
transforming unjust practices and sociopolitical policies that prevent
people from attaining their highest possible potential.

For non-governmental organizations (NGOs), on the other hand,

peacebuilding is an umbrella concept that encompasses not only long-
term transformative efforts, but also peacemaking and peacekeeping. In
this view, peacebuilding includes early warning and response efforts,
violence prevention, advocacy work, civilian and military peacekeeping,
military intervention, humanitarian assistance, ceasefire agreements, and
the establishment of peace zones. Various definitions of peacebuilding
that have been given are presented below.

Ehsan (2000): “Peacebuilding is building and strengthening of social,

political and economic structures for constructive transformation of
conflict and promotion of social values such as benevolence,
compassion, cooperation and justice among persons and groups.”

Miall (1999): “Peacebuilding represents attempts to overcome structural

relationship and cultural contradictions which lie at the root of conflict
in order to underpin the processes of peacemaking and peacekeeping.”

Fisher (2000): “Peacebuilding is about undertaking programs designed

to address the causes of conflict and the grievances of the past and to
promote long-term stability and justice.”

Goodhand and Hulme (1999): “Local or structural efforts that foster or

support those social, political and institutional structures and processes
which strengthen the prospect for peaceful co-existence and decrease the
likelihood of the outbreak, reoccurrence or continuation of violence”
Peacebuilding is usually understood as a transitional activity designed to
prevent the recurrence of past violent conflicts and to lay the foundation
for (re)building political, economic and social systems that in the longer
run will prevent further violence and wars.

According to Arne (2004), a distinction is often made between the

building of peace ‘from above’ and ‘from below’.

147
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

Peacebuilding “from above” includes strategies such as peace

mediation, negotiation and peacekeeping aimed at getting armed
factions to lay down their arms and turn to nonviolent resolution of
conflict, strategies to involve the international community and
neighboring or influential states as guarantors of peace agreement; and
strategies to restore public order, encourage relief and reconstruction,
and develop peace-sustaining institutions in the judicial, administrative
and political sector. The building of peace “from below” includes
strategies to develop trust and build confidence among communities and
relationships at the local level.

The spotlight on relationships processes and how it assists societies to

achieve justice and build peace is unique to peacebuilding. In
development work, this requires looking at how relationships and
decision-making are done. Rather than just looking at the specific ways
to improve food production or build new houses, peacebuilding
emphasizes building right relationships with different categories of
stakeholders as a crucial aspect of establishing lasting peace in violence-
prone areas.

Grounding peacebuilding in relationships means that people consciously

engage in processes that enable different stakeholders to commit and
pool their resources and talents in order to secure peace in their
communities. Relationships that are built on trust help to strengthen and
sustain people in the process of social change. To fully respect those
with whom we share social relationships, we need to relate closely with
them, and identify their goals and the strategy that they have chosen in
order to achieve those goals. That kind of knowledge will help us to
reduce potential conflicts.

4.4 Components of Peacebuilding

a. Prejudice Reduction: activities that focus on identifying and

changing negative attitudes towards ethnic, religious, political or other
groups who are likely to be described in derogatory terms. Prejudice
reduction is a form of conflict prevention activity because it is focused
on reducing a major cause of tension in ocieties and because it
encourages people to be more receptive to differences between them and
others who have ethnic, cultural, religious and physical differences.

b. Conflict Resolution Training: This is a form of

training that is intended to help improve
communication patterns and empower people to
deal with conflicts constructively, by building their
capacity to address their differences with others
without resorting to violence. The ranges of skills

148
PCR211 MODULE 4

that can be provided through conflict resolution

training include those in mediation, negotiation,
problem solving and arbitration. Those who are
involved in these form of peacebuilding can
support local and national capacities to deal with
conflicts by encouraging them to revive cultural
models of peace such as those discussed under
cultures of peace in Africa—institution of elders,
restitution, Ubuntu, etc.

c. Non-Violent Advocacy or Advocacy Training: In

a number of situations, hidden conflict issues such
as repeated abuse of human rights and large scale
of structural violence prevent people from seeing
beyond violence. For a just and durable peace to be
achieved, these structural issues need to be
addressed. This is the role that advocacy plays by
drawing attention to issues of injustice that may not
even be well understood. It also seeks to mobilise
groups to agitate for the redress of political and
economic power imbalances without resorting to
the use of violence. Advocacy and advocacy
training usually focus on educating grassroots and
middle-level leaders about alternative approaches
to the pursuit of social justice. It is often said that
advocacy increases the level of tension in societies
because it raises controversial issues publicly, and
it threatens those in power with sudden change.

d. Human Rights Education and Training: These

are peacebuilding activities that are also linked to
advocacy. The focus at this level is on creating
awareness about what a just society looks like by
identifying which rights and responsibilities people
actually have under the law as well as those that
they should strive to have. Human rights education,
training and advocacy can occur with groups at all
levels of the society.

e. Economic and Agricultural Development Projects: These are

also classified as peacebuilding activities especially in cases where they
help to transform structural imbalances, social inequities and contribute
to building relationships in communities and societies where tension is
noticed. Agricultural and development projects can lead to collaboration
between opposing communities and build bridges between them,
transform their previously negative and adversarial relationships,

149
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

prevent future violent conflict from erupting and lay the foundations for
peace on a more permanent basis.

f. Providing Alternative Media and Communications Sources:

This level of peacebuilding may involve providing financial
support for newspapers or newsletters to encourage them to
spread messages that promote peaceful coexistence among
individuals and groups, including breaking the myths that lead to
the creation of “enemy” images, telling powerful stories of
people who successfully reach out to others across conflict
divides, discussions of the key ingredients of justice and mercy,
or serving as a fora for healthy debates. Radio and television
stations can also be used to spread messages of peace as opposed
to war, or to create more understanding of viewpoints that appear
opposed.

g. Peacekeeping: As discussed in the previous Unit, peacekeeping

involves putting military forces contributed by UN Member
nations and regional governments under the United Nations (UN)
or a regional organisation’s flag in order to stop a conflict
between two or more armed warring factions. These troops can
prevent the conflict from further escalating and give groups some
physical and social space to open up political negotiations instead
of violent confrontation.

4.5 Types of Peacebuilding

4.5.1 Political Peacebuilding

This type of peacebuilding activity focuses on the processes that

culminate in agreements. It normally deals with establishing political
arrangements that provide the over-all context within which to
understand the relationships of the various parties and the resources they
commit to a conflict. It is about building a legal infrastructure that can
address the political needs of both sides to a conflict and also about
managing the boundaries of peace. Negotiations, technical-working
groups, fact finding missions, and so on are some of the examples of a
political peacebuilding approach.

Normally, political peacebuilding efforts tend to work on restoring

peace when conflicts occur either between groups (inter-communal
conflict) or between nations (international conflicts). Thus, the goal of
political peacebuilding is for the parties and leaders to reach an
agreement and sign a Peace Accord. According to Lederach, Peace
Accords are often seen as main points of peace processes. In

150
PCR211 MODULE 4

government and the military research, Accords are usually referred to as

an endgame scenario.

4.5.2 Structural Peacebuilding

Structural peacebuilding has to do with activities that lead to the

creation of structures, systems of behavior, institutions, and concerted
actions that support the implementation of a peace culture. It is about
building an economic, military, and social infrastructure that provides
concrete and realistic avenues through which a new peace system might
emerge. The activities that are considered to be closely related with
structural peacebuilding include disarming of warring factions,
repatriation of refugees, monitoring of elections, and projects that
enhance economic and social development.

Burkey (1993) is of the view that all people live within some form of
formal or informal political structure even though such a structure may
or may not benefit the individual or the general public as a whole. If the
development is to truly benefit the people, then the political structure
must be responsive to their needs and aspiration as well as protect their
rights and their property. Structural peacebuilding or political
development is a process of gradual change in which the people increase
their awareness of their own capabilities, their rights and their
responsibilities over time; and use of this knowledge to organize
themselves in order to acquire real political power and be able to do a
number of things such as:
a. participating in decision making at the local level
and to choose their own leaders and representatives
at the higher level of government who are
accountable to the people;
b. planning and sharing power democratically; and
c. creating and allocating communal resources
equitably (fairly) and efficiently among individual
groups.

Where this is done, it may be possible to avoid corruption and

exploitation, realize social and economic development, political stability
and peace, and create a politicized population within the context of their
own culture and their own political system.

As we have noted earlier during discussions on positive and negative

peace, violence is built into unequal, unjust and unrepresentative social
structures. Unequal social structures produce social groups who have
lower income, lower education, lower health, and lower life expectancy.
This means that one person’s existence, behavior or attributes is what is
preventing another from realizing its full potential, and the human and

151
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

social costs of this kind of invisible violence may be higher than those
from direct physical violence.

4.5.3 Social Peacebuilding

Social peacebuilding deals with feelings, attitude, opinions, beliefs,

values, and skills that are shared between peoples, individuals and in
groups. It is about building a human infrastructure of people who are
committed to engendering a “peace culture” within the social fabric of
communal and inter-communal life. The contexts in which we are born
and brought up sufficiently influence our attitude and behavior. Each of
us is born male or female and born into a particular way of life: for
example, a nomad in rural Kebbi and a city dweller in Lagos or Abuja
have radically different experiences about life and things around them.

Individuals have different sets of values, which guide their thinking and
behaviors. Theses values make them to take certain actions and to reject
others. This reality of life in fact leads to a situation where we find
people who have different perspectives on life and things. This
orientation factor is what leads to conflict when people pursue different
perspectives and goals that clash. In order to move from a conflict
system to a peace system, people will need to change the way they
think. This need is reflected in the preamble of UNESCO Culture of
Peace Programme: “since war beings in the minds of men, it is in the
minds of men that foundation of peace must be constructed”. Attitudinal
and behavioral change can thus be achieved through formal and
informal peace education which can promote the development of the
necessary change consciousness that is needed for greater cooperation
and peaceful problem solving.

4.5.4 Community-Based Peacebuilding

Community based peacebuilding assumes that people and culture are the
best resources for building and sustaining peace. Community based
peacebuilding is therefore primarily concerned with strengthening the
role of local people and their institutions as a means of promoting peace.
Through the use of socio-cultural resources for peace, a widespread
sense of shared responsibility for constructive transformation of conflict
to prevent violence is generated. Community based peacebuilding aims
to teach people at the community level how to deal with violence in a
proactive way and ultimately build and sustain peace.

The creation and strengthening of socio-cultural resources needs to be

based on existing community’s resources such as structure, institutions,
people, and political leadership. It is also required that community based
peacebuilding should complement political negotiations by creating and

152
PCR211 MODULE 4

strengthening the social, institutional and economic infrastructure

required for a lasting peace.

Development organizations aiming to mobilize people and their

resources for creation of social and economic structures are well placed
to incorporate peacebuilding and the promotion of human rights into
their development work. This will only be achieved if they broaden the
scope of their development program and make sustained efforts for
development of competent institutions. This will require strong, longer-
term commitment and a continued process of analysis and feedback.

Community based peacebuilding should therefore be seen as an ongoing

social process involving all members of the society. At the strategic
level there is need for institutions’ commitment and vision for peace,
and for social and economic development to be integrated into
operating/ facilitating organizations to support communal actions for
prevention of violence. At the strategic level, there is therefore a need
for institutions to commit to a vision of peace and socio-economic
development; integrating this commitment into their operations would in
turn support communal actions for the prevention of violence.

4.6 Essence of Post-Conflict Peacebuilding

In order to be truly successful, peacemaking and peace- keeping

operations must involve wide-ranging efforts to identify and sustain
structures which will consolidate peace and advance a sense of
confidence and well-being among people who are compelled to live
together by circumstances beyond their immediate control or choice. In
societies that are just emerging from violent conflicts, agreements that
result in ending civil conflict may need to include plans for disarming
the previously warring parties and the restoration of order in the society,
the retrieval and possible destruction of weapons, the repatriation of
refugees, provision of advisory and training support for security
personnel, elections monitoring, promotion of efforts to protect human
rights, reforming or strengthening governmental institutions and
promoting formal and informal processes of political participation.

In the aftermath of war, post-conflict peace-building may take the form

of concrete cooperative projects which link two or more social groups in
a mutually beneficial undertaking that will not only contribute to
economic and social development but also enhance the confidence that
is very essential to peaceful coexistence. These may include projects
that bring such social groups together to develop agriculture, improve
transportation or utilize resources such as water or electricity that they
need to share, or joint programmes through which class, political and
cultural barriers between them are removed by means of cultural

153
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

exchanges and mutually beneficial development projects. Reducing

hostile perceptions through peace education and various forms of
political reforms may be necessary in order to forestall a re-emergence
of tensions which could spark renewed hostilities and crises.

In the range of efforts that could be taken to enhance peace, the concept
of peacebuilding as the construction of a new environment that
promotes peaceful coexistence should be viewed as the complement of
preventive diplomacy, which describes efforts taken to avoid the
breakdown of peaceful conditions. When conflict breaks out, efforts at
peacemaking and peacekeeping are made by concerned neighbours and
organisations. Once these efforts succeed in attaining their objectives,
collaborative efforts that are focused on dealing with underlying
economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems can help to
consolidate durable peace. While preventive diplomacy aims to avoid a
crisis; post-conflict peace-building aims to prevent a recurrence.

4.7 Critical Tasks in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding

1. De-Mining: in many parts of the world where the strategies of

waging war involved the use of landmines and other forms of
explosive ordinance, it is becoming increasingly clear that
peacebuilding activities that commence after the cessation of
hostilities have to address the problem of land mines, many of
which remain scattered in former combat zones. De-mining may
be emphasized in the Terms of Reference (ToR) of peacekeeping
operations and is of crucial importance in the restoration of
productive civilian activity when peacebuilding is under way
because agriculture cannot be revived without de-mining and the
restoration of transport may require the laying of hard surface
roads to prevent re-mining.

2. Demilitarization: Just as demilitarized zones may serve the

cause of preventive diplomacy and preventive deployment to
avoid conflicts, so may demilitarization assist in keeping the
peace or in post-conflict peace-building, as a measure for
heightening the sense of security and encouraging the parties to
turn their energies to the work of peaceful restoration in their
societies.

3. Technical Assistance for Reconstruction: The

United Nations and other multilateral
organizations have an obligation to develop and
provide technical assistance when such is
requested by nations that are just emerging from
conflicts. Such assistance and support include

154
PCR211 MODULE 4

support for the transformation of weak national

structures and capabilities, and the strengthening
of new democratic institutions. The authority of
interveners to act would be predicated on the
agreement that social peace is as important as
strategic or political peace. The linkage between
democratic practices such as the rule of law and
transparent decision-making, and the achievement
of true peace and security in any new and stable
political order has to be emphasized. These
elements of good governance need to be promoted
at all levels of international and national political
communities if post-conflict peacebuilding efforts
are to make any impact.

4.7.1 Disarmament and Demobilization

Disarmament entails the collection of arms and ammunition, while

demobilization is the process that separates combatants from military
service or armed troops (it may include the establishment of camps and
weapons receiving areas where former combatants hand in their
weapons and in return receive counseling, vocational training or
economic assistance). For United Nations Peacekeeping Operations,
disarmament is closely associated with demobilization activities.

Class Activity
1. What are the various activities that are undertaken in pursuit of
peace?
2. What is peacebuilding?

Self-Assessment Exercise
1. Discuss the various types of peacebuilding that you know.
2. What are the critical tasks of peacebuilding in post-conflict
situations?
3. What is regional peacebuilding and why has it become
commonplace in attempts to safeguard global peace?

4.8 Summary

In this Unit, we have examined a number of activities that have become

the hallmarks or signposts of attempts at various levels to support the
age-long search for peace by humankind. Some of them involve
unilateral actions by individuals, Heads of Governments, multilateral

155
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

institutions, while others involve collective actions by nations within a

region of the world, or by multiple nations bound by a common quest to
safeguard world peace. In most cases, activities in support of peace are
focused not only on stopping active violence, but also on ensuring that
once secured, the various factors that may undermine peaceful
coexistence among individuals, groups, communities and nations
(human security, rights, good governance, democratic rule and so on)
are frontally addressed in order that they do not result in grievances,
protest and violence.

4.9 References/Further Readings/Web Resources

Crocker, C.A. & Hampson, F.O. with Aall, P. eds (1996) Managing
Global Chaos: Sources of and Responses to International
Conflict; Washington, D.C.: US Institute of Peace

Hampson, F.O. (1997) Can Peacebuilding Work? Cornell International

Law Journal 30, (3), 701-716

Hooper, R. & Taylor, M. (1999) Command from the Saddle: Managing

United Nations Peace-building Missions, Fafo Report 266, Fafo
(Institute for Applied Social Science, Oslo).

Jeong, H.-W. (2002), Approaches to Peacebuilding, London:

Macmillan.

Jeong, H.-W. (2005), Peacebuilding in Post-conflict Societies: Strategy

and process, Boulder: Westview Press.

Knight, W. (2004), Peacebuilding Theory and Praxis, in: Keating, T.

and Knight, W. (Ed.), Building Sustainable Peace, Edmonton:
Prentice-Hall

Kriesberg, L. (1998). Constructive conflicts: From escalation to

resolution. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield

Lederach, J. P. (1997), Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in

Divided Societies, Washington: USIP.

Miall, H., Ramsbotham, O. & T. Woodhouse (2001) Contemporary

Conflict Resolution: The Prevention, Management and
Transformation of Deadly Conflicts, Oxford: OUP

156
PCR211 MODULE 4

Paris, R. (2005) At war's end: building peace after civil conflict,

Cambridge: Macmillan.

Retamal, G. & M. Devadoss (1996) Education for emergencies and

reconstruction: UNESCO’s role; Innovation 87.

Retamal, G. & M. Devadoss, (1998) Education in a nation with chronic

crisis: The case of Somalia, In G. Retamal & R. Aedo-Richmond
(Eds), Education as a humanitarian response; London: Cassell.

Tawil, S. Ed. (1997) Educational destruction and reconstruction in

disrupted societies (workshop report); Geneva: International
Bureau of Education.

Teale, P. & Hampson, F.O. (1998) Peacebuilding Census; Ottawa:

Canadian Peacebuilding Coordinating Committee.

157
PCR211 EDUCATION FOR PEACE II

4.10 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

Answer

Political Peacebuilding this type of peacebuilding activity focuses on

the processes that culminate in agreements. It normally deals with
establishing political arrangements that provide the over-all context
within which to understand the relationships of the various parties and
the resources they commit to a conflict.

Social peacebuilding deals with feelings, attitude, opinions, beliefs,

values, and skills that are shared between peoples, individuals and in
groups. It is about building a human infrastructure of people who are
committed to engendering a “peace culture” within the social fabric of
communal and inter-communal life.

2. De-Mining: in many parts of the world where the strategies of

waging war involved the use of landmines and other forms of explosive
ordinance, it is becoming increasingly clear that peacebuilding activities
that commence after the cessation of hostilities have to address the
problem of land mines, many of which remain scattered in former
combat zones. De-mining may be emphasized in the Terms of Reference
(ToR) of peacekeeping operations and is of crucial importance in the
restoration of productive civilian activity when peacebuilding is under
way because agriculture cannot be revived without de-mining and the
restoration of transport may require the laying of hard surface roads to
prevent re-mining.

Demilitarization: Just as demilitarized zones may serve the cause of

preventive diplomacy and preventive deployment to avoid conflicts, so
may demilitarization assist in keeping the peace or in post-conflict
peace-building, as a measure for heightening the sense of security and
encouraging the parties to turn their energies to the work of peaceful
restoration in their societies.

Technical Assistance for Reconstruction: The United Nations and

other multilateral organizations have an obligation to develop and
provide technical assistance when such is requested by nations that are
just emerging from conflicts. Such assistance and support include
support for the transformation of weak national structures and
capabilities, and the strengthening of new democratic institutions.

158