by David Kirshbaum (2018)
Next Step: Cataloging Programs for Increasing Peacefulness
Nonviolence International is developing an online global catalog of programs for increasing peacefulness (still under construction/unpublished). The benefits of such a program are huge:
This catalog could potentially list thousands of very positive wonderful programs by humans for helping humans. Such a collection could help increase positive feelings and optimism about the human race and it’s future, in opposition to mainstream news media which is overwhelmingly negative and depressing.
This catalog could facilitate networking among peace and justice professionals and program developers since it will be sortable by type of program and region and country.
This catalog might facilitate volunteerism and funding and academic research about such programs by showing what is being done across the world and how to connect to it.
The world is filled with amazing people and wonderful programs helping others, but we can’t see it because the mainstream media won’t report about it because it is not “newsworthy” and “won’t sell newspapers”. The result is that the world only sees negative depressing news. Maybe this catalog can be a solution to that actually very serious problem.
Conclusion
Peacebuilding is a movement that needs our support because running these tests of peacefulness and then implementing programs to increase peacefulness and functioning costs money.
But even more than this, these tests show that progressive values of democratic functioning and progressive values, morals and ethics are what helps a group or country increase it’s inner peacefulness, and thereby function better. This is an important direct rebuttal of nationalist thinking which tends to be anti-democracy, anti-science, and anti-intellectual. The development of this body of data and results could lead to a substantial science based guide on how to help human societies function more efficiently, effectively and more peacefully.
This movement has 5 main points that need promotion:
This movement has 5 main points that need promotion:
Just stopping or preventing violence is not enough to lead to long-term peace.
Lasting peace will only come through the long-term transformation of society where the origins of the violence are resolved and eliminated so that violence does not break out again.
That long-term transformation of society must include equality, respect for human and civil rights, justice and training in nonviolent conflict resolution and communications so that people have a sense that they are safe and their kids have a chance for a better future than they had. This is the embodiment of the axiom that:
* Sustainable Development, Sustainable Peace and Justice
are interconnected and interdependent,
and you can’t have one without the other two. *
Scientific analysis of peace and peacefulness is a positive development that will lead to even more effective and efficient methods for developing long-term peace and development, and thus by extension prosperity for all.
Strong funding for this science will lead to economic benefits that will make the initial funding more than worth it. This builds on the axiom that:
* peace is more economically beneficial
than ongoing violent conflict and gun violence. *
Footnotes for Modern Peacebuilding and Nonviolence Parts I, II, III, & IV:
1- Since leaving the University of Oslo in 1977, Johan Galtung has taught at numbers of other schools such as Columbia University, the University of Hawaii, and the Islamic University of Malaysia. Galtung has also founded three Peace Institutes and the Journal of Peace Research:
Peace Research Institute Oslo - https://www.prio.org/
Galtung Institute for Peace Theory and Practice - https://www.galtung-institut.de
Transcend International - https://www.transcend.org/
Journal of Peace Research - http://journals.sagepub.com//home/jpr
Complete list of Galtung Publications 1948-2016 - https://www.transcend.org/files/Galtungs_Production_1948-2016.pdf
2-Galtung (1996), p.31.
3-Galtung (1996), p.2.
4- Galtung (1996), p.270.
5-Galtung (1996), p.61.
6-Galtung (1996), p.270.
7-Galtung (1976), p.298.
8-Galtung (1996), p.32.
9-Nonviolence International unpublished research (2019).
10-Nonviolent Peaceforce Website (2020) -https://www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org/unarmed-civilian-protection
11-Stein (2014).
12-Resources. Nonviolence International (2020) -https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/resources
13-Brice, Leslie. UNESCO's Response to PCPD Situations by Building a Culture of Peace. Nonviolence International (2016) -https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PcPifqB0DJfk9Jl-RB7CSkI7CJuO_Yot/view
14-Gupta, Aakrati. Handbook for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence. Nonviolence International (2018) -https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xfaMm4Zwb8Tsp6_LBb0UKobnqpOtjBnQo-_NSuEWTD0/edit?usp=sharing
15-UNPBSO (2010).
16-UNPBSO (2011b).
17-UNPBSO (2010).
18-UNPBSO (2011a)
19-UNPBSO (2012a).
20-UNPBSO (2012d).
21-UNPBSO (2012b).
22-UNPBSO (2012b).
23-UNSGO (2015).
24- UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/70/262 -https://undocs.org/A/RES/70/262UN Security Council Resolution S/RES/2282 -https://undocs.org/S/RES/2282(2016)
25-UNDPPA (2020b).
26-UNDPPA (2020a)
27- UNDPPA (2020a).
28-IAPSRS (1994)
29-Liberman, et.al. (1984)
30-Institute for Economics and Peace website, Sydney, Australia (2020) -http://economicsandpeace.org/
31-Barrett Value Centre Website. UK (2020) -https://www.valuescentre.com/
32-Nonviolence International-New York website (2020) -https://www.nonviolenceny.org
33-Galtung (1996), p.1.
34-IEP (2019).
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