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Freedom from Discrimination: On the Coloniality of Positive Peace

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The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace

Abstract

The concept of positive peace is one of the most fundamental contributions of the field of Peace and Conflict Studies. At its core, positive peace acknowledges multiple layers of violence, and thus offers an alternative society in which structures of oppression and exploitation are removed. Much scholarly work on the concept of positive peace has in fact focused on identifying the structures of violence the term aims to overcome rather than on developing an epistemological framework for the concept itself (Bajaj & Chiu, 2009; Byrne et al., 2019; Barash, 2017; Brock-Utne, 1995; Concannon & Finley, 2015; Galtung, 2013; Sandole, 2013; Turan, 2015). Here, positive peace acknowledges violence(s) in more or less refined ways but does not question where and how the term has been deployed. Scholars have adequately explained that the mere absence of war and direct violence reduces and limits peace. However, the work peace-makers and peace-builders have to do has in fact not sufficiently engaged with how the genealogies and underpinnings of terms like positive and negative peace are fundamentally aligned with Western thought and therefore are at risk of reproducing the very many violence(s) positive peace seeks to overcome. (Western thought specifically as conceptualized by scientific precepts of neutrality, distance, and objectivity. Particularly enlightenment philosophy that places European men as rational beings and as producers of knowledge and thought. Mignolo and Walsh identify that another problem is when theorizing, thought and knowledge production are considered to be the purview of academia.)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Health, and Human Development, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Mahdis Azarmandi

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  1. Mahdis Azarmandi
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Correspondence to Mahdis Azarmandi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ntl. Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies, University of Otago Ntl. Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Katerina Standish

  2. National Centre for Peace, University of Otago National Centre for Peace, Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand

    Heather Devere

  3. Ntl. Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies, University of Otago Ntl. Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Adan Suazo

  4. Ntl. Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies, University of Otago Ntl. Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Rachel Rafferty

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Azarmandi, M. (2021). Freedom from Discrimination: On the Coloniality of Positive Peace. In: Standish, K., Devere, H., Suazo, A., Rafferty, R. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3877-3_32-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3877-3_32-1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-3877-3

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