Peace and Conflict Studies: A Reader

Peace and Conflict Studies: A Reader is a comprehensive and intensive introduction to the key works in this growing field.Peace and conflict studies, incorporating anthropology, sociology, political science, ethics, theology and history, aims to uncover the roots of conflict, transform the underlying causes, develop preventive strategies, and teach conflict resolution skills. As a trans-disciplinary inquiry into the nature of peace and the reasons for wars and other forms of human conflict, this discipline has grown exponentially since its birth about a half-century ago. Since 2000, in particular, there has been a sharp increase in peace and conflict studies curricula, particularly in the number of postgraduate peace studies programs. Presenting a range of theories, methodologies, and approaches to understanding peace and to transforming conflict, it contains both classic and cutting-edge contemporary analyses. The book has six general sections:PART I:The Meanings and History of Peace - philosophical, religious, social-scientific, and historical perspectives on the genealogy, history, and somewhat contested nature of peace and its study. PART II:The Meanings and Nature of Conflict - focusing on the reasons for violent conflicts, wars, and terrorism. PART III: The History of Peace and Conflict - histories of peace and social protest movements in general, and of democracy and nonviolent social movements in China and the former Soviet bloc in particular. PART IV: Conflict Management, Resolution, and Transformation - focuses on contending approaches to conflict management, resolution, and transformation, and includes assessments of diplomacy, realpolitik, international law, nonviolent revolutionary movements, disarmament, and reconciliation. PART V: Nonviolent Action and Social Change - classic essays on nonviolence in theory and as a way of life, as well as contemporary asssessments of nonviolence as a means of political transformation. PART VI: Building Cultures and Paradigms of Peace - focuses on building cultures of peace via peacekeeping and peacemaking. Societies that have sustained peace are a central element in this analysis.The volume editors frame the discussion in an extensive introduction and provide short introductions to each section as well. Each section includes also suggestions for further reading and student questions for the classroom.This book will be essential reading for students of peace and conflict studies and conflict resolution, and highly recommended for students of peace operations, peacebuilding, sociology, international security and IR in general