Peacebuilding &conflict transformation A ... - Peaceworkafrica

elieve people and not profit are central, and who feel responsible for nature andthe entire creation.” 13Adolfo Perez Esquivel (1931, Nobel Peace Prize 1980, coordinator of SERPAJ) wastortured and imprisoned by military dictators over many years. He criticizes LatinAmerican liberation theology (not sufficiently explored effectiveness of nonviolentmeans of struggle for justice) and European peace activists (focusing too much onindividual social issues and struggles but not putting the whole structure in question)alike.For him nonviolence is spirit and method:▶ spirit: condemn every split in the fellowship of brothers and sistersthat can be restored only through love.▶ method: aim at disrupting the system which is responsible forthe injustice. Despite the opposition he has encountered, Pérez Esquivelinsists that the struggle must only be waged with non‐violent means 14 .Johan Galtung (1930) is a prolific Norwegian researcher whose aim is to promotepeace 15 . He has made contributions to many fields in sociology and has publishedmany articles and books. His more comprehensive view of the phenomenon of violence(violence is more than just physical violence) and the term ‘structural violence’that he coined, were first published in the 1960s. Galtung has held several significantpositions in international research councils and has been an advisor to several internationalorganizations. While Galtung’s academic research is clearly intended topromote peace, he has shifted toward more concrete and constructive peace mediationas he has grown older. In 1993, he co‐founded ‘Transcend – A Peace, Developmentand Environment Network’, an organization for conflict transformation bypeaceful means. Since 2004 he has been a member of the Advisory Council of theCommittee for a Democratic UN.Mr. Galtung is referenced with regard to concepts with which he is strongly associated:Structural violence – widely defined as the systematic ways in which a regime preventsindividuals from achieving their full potential. Institutionalized racismand sexism are examples of this.Negative versus positive peace – introduces the concept that peace may be morethan just the absence of overt violent conflict (negative peace), and will likelyinclude a range of relationships up to a state where nations (or any groupingsin conflict) might have collaborative and supportive relationships (positivepeace) 16 .3 . N o n v i o l e n c e f o r l i f e – s o m e a c t i v i s t s 199