Approaches to Peace A Reader in Peace Studies

by Barash, David P.

• ISBN13: 9780195123869
• ISBN10: 0195123867
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-07-29
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Approaches to Peace provides a unique and interdisciplinary sampling of classic articles and short literary selections focusing on the diverse aspects of peace and conflict studies. Readings cover the causes of war and proposed means of preventing it, so called negative peace, and also reflectupon the universal concern for positive peace. The material examines nonviolence movements, peace movements, religious inspirations, and our future prospects for peace. Contributors include Johan Galtung, Kenneth Boulding, Elise Boulding, and Alva Mydral. Contemporary pieces by Jonathan Schell,Richard Falk, Betty Reardon, and Vaclav Havel, and timeless classics from Leo Tolstoy, the Bhagavad Gita, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, and Thoreau are included as well. The book's balanced and unbiased approach makes it easily adaptable to both general discussions of peace and conflict as wellas the rapidly changing issues of the moment. Approaches to Peace is able to stand on its own as a foundation text in any introductory peace studies course. It is also compact enough to use as a supplement with more specialized readings, allowing instructors to assign additional readings consistentwith their own particular orientation. Each selection is prefaced by a short introduction highlighting the author's background, the work's historical context, and the selection's significance in terms of the "big picture." Study questions and a list of suggested readings at the end of each selectionalso provide a useful resource for students.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Approaches to War

Why War?

On Aggression

Warfare is Only an Invention - Not a Biological Necessity

War and Other Essays

The Guns of August

Victims of Groupthink

The Causes of War

A Structural Theory of Imperialism

National Images and International Systems

Glamorized Nationalism: Some Examples in Poetry

Redefining Security: The New Global Schisms

Study Questions

Suggested Reading

Building ""Negative Peace""

The Moral Equivalent of War

Getting to YES

Disarmament Demands GRIT

The Conduct of Just and Limited War

The Game of Disarmament

The Gift of Time

Finding the Future: The Rolse of Economic Conversion in Shaping the Twenty-First Century

International Law

The Evolution of United National Peacekeeping

Perpetual Peace

Study Questions

Suggested Readings

Building ""Positive Peace""

The Land Ethic

Human Rights

The Pedagogy of the Oppressed

An Agenda for Change

Letter From a Birmingham Jail

Study Questions

Suggested Readings

Nonviolence

Civil Disobedience

Letter to Ernst Howard Crosby

Conscientious Objector

Neither Victims Nor Executioners

Ahimsa, or the Way of Nonviolence

Civilian Resistance as a National Defense

Study Questions

Suggested Readings

Religious Inspiration

The Bhagavad Gita

Tao De Ching

Being Peace: Richt Nhat Hanh

The Old Testament

The New Testament

Holy Disobedience

A Devout Meditation on Behalf of Adolf Eichmann

A Christian's View of the Arms Race

Study Questions

Suggested Readings

Peace Movements, Transformations, and the Future

Peace Movements in History

Building Utopias in History

On Humane Governance

Sexism and the War System

The Politics of Responsibility

A Few Poetic Visions

Study Questions

Suggested Readings

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