Twenty-Five Years of Peace Research: Ten Challenges and Some Responses

Abstract

The article is an effort to discuss ten major dilemmas of peace research as the field has evolved over the last 25 years: the definition of peace research; peace as absence of violence (including structural violence); violence as obstacles to basic needs satisfaction; extension to peace in nature, human and social spaces (not only the global space); the dialectic between research, education and action; the social role of the peace researcher; the basic strategies of peace action; the methods of peace research; the choice of intellectual style; the conception of peace in various civilizations. The central conclusion is that the basic concern of peace research is the reduction of violence of all kinds; this is done by progressively removing barriers in space (transnational, global studies), in the organization of knowledge (transdisciplinary, holistic studies), in time (integrating empirical studies of the past, critical studies of the present and constructive studies for the future). As such peace research can also be seen as an effort, along with development, future and woman studies, to counteract fragmentation in the social sciences.