Peace Theories

Conceptions of Peace

The term peace (and equivalent concepts in other languages) has been a part of the everyday vocabulary of many cultures for thousands of years. The Greek term for peace, ireni, refers to an absence of antagonistic conflict. The English term is derived from the Latin word pax, which is literally a pact to end or avert hostilities. Dictionary definitions of the English word peace emphasize an absence of war and overt violence, although the Oxford English Dictionary also includes definitions related to freedom from civil commotion, quarrels, or dissention between individuals; mental and spiritual turmoil; and even disturbing noise.

Although Western conceptions of peace tend to emphasize an absence of the negative, Eastern approaches conceptualize peace from a more positive stance, giving emphasis to characteristics such as harmony, unity, and balance. For example, the Chinese equivalent of peace is written as a combination of the characters for harmony and equality. The Hebrew shalom and Arabic salaam mean whole or undivided. Many indigenous conceptions of peace, including those of Native Americans in North America, focus on harmony between human beings, the rest of the natural world, and the larger cosmos.

In the 20th century, the term peace was often given a passive connotation, most likely because it was associated with the philosophy of pacifism, the belief that war of any kind is morally unacceptable and not worth the human and social cost of destructive violence. Pacifists emphasize nonviolence, with many believing that it is inappropriate to take up arms even in self-defense. For pacifists, peace is imbedded in an attitude toward humanity, focusing on a spirit of love, compassion, and forgiveness. Although peace as nonviolence can be passive, pacifism literally refers to the making of peace (from pace and facere). The work of [Page 732]Mahatma Gandhi and subsequently Martin Luther King, Jr., gave peace a more proactive connotation. They advocated nonviolent action in the form of individual and mass resistance. Both Gandhi and King led pacifist movements that sought to overcome social injustice through nonviolent social change, in some cases advocating a revolution against established social order.

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