Dictionary of Meaning
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Peace
*** Shopping-Tip: Peace
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'''Peace''' is commonly understood to mean the ''absence of hostilities''. Other definitions include freedom from disputes, harmonious relations and the absence of mental
stress or
anxiety, as the meaning of the word changes with context. However, there are others who would say that the absence of
hostility hostilities would refer to only those hostilities which are evident and that true peace only springs from the heart of each individual.
Peace may refer specifically to an agreement concluded to end a war, or to a lack of external
warfare, or to a period when a country's armies are not fighting enemies. It can also refer more generally to quietude, such as that common at night or in remote areas, allowing for
sleep or
meditation. Peace can be an
emotion or internal state. And finally, peace can be any combination of these definitions.
A person's conception of "peace" is often the product of culture and upbringing. People of different
cultures sometimes disagree about the meaning of the word, and so do people within any given culture. Peace is not a
symbol, peace is a
mindset.
Peace as an absence of war
Image:Peace dove.png olive branch.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|Peace dove. A widely used symbol for peace, featuring an [[olive branch in the dove's beak.html" title="Meaning of Peace dove. A widely used symbol for peace, featuring an [[olive branch">thumb|Peace dove. A widely used symbol for peace, featuring an [[olive branch in the dove's beak">Peace dove. A widely used symbol for peace, featuring an [[olive branch">thumb|Peace dove. A widely used symbol for peace, featuring an [[olive branch in the dove's beakA simple and narrow definition of peace entails the absence of
war. (The
Ancient Rome ancient Romans defined peace, ''Pax'', as ''Absentia Belli'', the ''absence of war''.)
The maintenance of longstanding peace between
nations ranks among the few great successes of the
United Nations. Peace can be voluntary, where potential agitators choose to abstain from disturbance, or it can be enforced, by suppressing those who might otherwise cause such disturbance.
Although prehistory and history are rife with conflict, some peoples, regions and nations have enjoyed periods of peace that have lasted generations. The following are some examples:
*
Sweden (1815-present). Sweden is the present-day
nation state with the longest history of continuous peace. Since its
1814 invasion of
Norway, the Swedish kingdom has not engaged in war.
*
Switzerland (1848 - present). A hard stance on neutrality has given
Switzerland fame as a country for its long-lasting peace.
*
Costa Rica (1949-present). Following a 44-day civil war in 1944, in 1949, Costa Rica abolished its army. Since then, its history has been peaceful, especially relative to those of neighboring Central American states. This has earned the country the nickname, "Switzerland of the Americas."
*
Pennsylvania (1682–1754). The colony of Pennsylvania enjoyed 72 years of peace, maintaining no army or militia and fighting no wars. Under the proprietorship of
William Penn (1644–1718), a member of the
Religious Society of Friends, the colony earned a reputation for religious and personal freedom, as well as for respectful dealings with
Native Americans in the United States Native Americans. Although somewhat a utopian experiment, the colony was not a
utopia, marred with
slavery,
indentureship and
class conflict. In addition, William Penn's heirs dealt less fairly with the
Native Americans in the United States Native Americans, especially in the
Walking Purchase of 1737. Nevertheless, the colonial experience of
Pennsylvania bears study as an example of a peaceful society.
*
Amish (1693 - present). A sect of
Anabaptists or
Mennonites of predominantly Swiss/German descent, the Amish practice a peaceful lifestyle that includes religious devotion, resistance to the pernicious effects of technology, and
nonresistance. They rarely defend themselves physically or even in court; in wartime, they take
conscientious objector status. Today over 150,000 Amish live in close-knit communities in 47 states in the
United States, as well as
Canada and
Belize.
Peace as a selfless act of love
One less conventional definition of peace is peace as a state of perpetual love (see the second paragraph of
Love). It comes from the understanding that any and all violence stems from an attachment, whether it be an attachment to a certain kind of truth (religious, political, economic, or otherwise) or an attachment to survival (out of the fear of death). What is borne out of the attachment is then, an imposition of an idea upon the world. To believe that something is true for oneself, and therefore, it ''must'' be true for everyone else. In the quest for the realization of this self-spawning universal truth, the exceptions, also known as the
Other (See the ethics of
Emmanuel Levinas) must be done away with at the cost of their lives. This definition can be used to define almost any conflict.
Peace, then, can also be defined as a condition of universal self-abnegation. To let go of the desire for absolute certainty borne out of the consolation of suffering.
See
Simone Weil and her book,
Gravity and Grace.
Peace as an absence of violence or of evil; presence of justice
Constraining the concept of peace strictly to the absence of international war masks internal
genocide,
terrorism, and other
violence. Few would describe the Congolese genocide of the 1890s as an example of peace, even though it technically occurred within the personal domain of
Léopold II of Belgium King Léopold of the Belgians. Some, therefore, define "peace" as an absence of violence: not merely the absence of war, but also of
evil.
Many believe that peace is more than the absence of certain societal maladies. From this perspective, peace requires not only the absence of violence but also the presence of justice, as articulated by
Mahatma Gandhi. In this conception, a society in which one group is oppressed by another lacks peace even in the absence of violence, because the oppression itself constitutes evil.
Plural peaces
Some "peace thinkers" choose to abandon the idea of one definition of peace; rather, they promote the idea of many peaces. They think that no singular, correct definition of peace can exist; peace, therefore, should be seen as a plurality.
For example, in the
African Great Lakes Great Lakes region of Africa, the word for peace is ''kindoki'', which refers to a harmonious balance between human beings, the rest of the natural world, and the cosmos. This is a much more broad vision of peace than a mere "absence of war" or even a "presence of justice" standard.
Many of these same thinkers also critique the idea of peace as a hopeful or eventual end. They recognize that peace does not necessarily have to be something the humans might achieve "some day." They contend that peace exists, we can create and expand it in small ways in our everyday lives, and peace changes constantly. This view makes peace permeable and imperfect rather than static and utopian.
Peace and quiet
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New Zealand..html" title="Meaning of right|300px|Peace and tranquility — [[Lake Mapourika">thumb|right|300px|Peace and tranquility — [[Lake Mapourika,
New Zealand.">right|300px|Peace and tranquility — [[Lake Mapourika">thumb|right|300px|Peace and tranquility — [[Lake Mapourika,
New Zealand.
In some contexts, peace refers more generally to a state of
quiet or
tranquility — an absence of disturbance or agitation.
Those who travel to remote, rural areas often notice the striking difference in the noise level between the cities and the countryside; hence the term "peace and quiet". Conflict that occurs in nature, however, often produces sounds. When animals fight, the surrounding forest can become even ''more'' silent, as the non-engaged animals warily await the outcome. After a conflict, the normal sounds and actions of the inhabitants eventually reappear.
Inner peace
One meaning of peace refers to
inner peace; a state of mind, body and soul, which is said to take place within ourselves. People that experience inner peace say that the feeling is not dependent on time, people or place, asserting that an individual may experience inner peace even in the midst of war.
Environmental Peace
Many, if not most,
environmentalists consider protecting the environment to be a form of peace, if not the main form, as destroying habitats is quite arguably a form of violence and an "evil".
Is violence necessary?
There is a wide spectrum of views about whether, or if so when,
violence and
war are ever necessary. Followers of
Jainism, for example, go to great lengths to avoid harming all living creatures including insects, and
Pacifism pacifists, such as
Christian anarchism Christian anarchists, see any sort of violence as self-perpetuating. Other groups take a wide variety of stances, with many maintaining a
Just War theory.
Historical examples and counter examples
Allied propaganda billed the
Great War in Europe as the "war to end all wars." Although the Allies won the war, the resulting "peace"
Treaty of Versailles only set the stage for the even bloodier
World War II. Before the Allied victory, the
Bolsheviks promised the Russian people "peace, land, and bread." Although
Vladimir Lenin ended the disastrous war against the
Central Powers, the ensuing civil war resulted in a loss of over a million people. These failures illustrate the problems of using war in an effort to attain peace.
Proponents of the
democratic peace theory claim that strong empirical evidence exists that
democracies rarely make war against each other. An increasing number of nations have become democratic since the
industrial revolution, and thus, they claim
world peace may thus become possible if this trend continues. However, it can also be argued that this could equally be explained by a number of other factors related to the wealth, power, and stability of nations that tend to become democracies, ranging from becoming reliant on strong global
trade connections to
Mutually Assured Destruction.
Currently, the
Veterans' Truth Project is working toward peace by telling the realities of American's
war on terrorism under George W. Bush's
administration.
Peacemakers
'''Peacemakers''' are people who have overcome entrenched violence and conflict through their
leadership and vision to achieve peace.
Nobel Peace Prize
''Main article:
Nobel Peace Prize''
The '''Nobel Peace Prize''' is awarded annually to notable persons, generally peacemakers and
Visionary visionaries who have overcome notorious cycles in violence, conflict or oppression through their moral leadership, but also controversially former
warmongers and former
terrorists who it was believed had helped bring the world closer to ending such situations through exceptional concessions in the attempt to achieve peace.
Here is a partial list of
Nobel Peace Prize#Laureates Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
*
Theodore Roosevelt (
Nobel Peace Prize#1900s 1906 laureate);
*
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (
Nobel Peace Prize#1960s 1964 laureate);
*
Henry Kissinger and
Le Duc Tho (
Nobel Peace Prize#1970s joint 1973 laureates);
*
Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat (
Nobel Peace Prize#1970s 1978 laureate);
*
Mother Teresa (
Nobel Peace Prize#1970s 1979 laureate);
*
Oscar Arias Sánchez (
Nobel Peace Prize#1980s 1987 laureate);
*
Aung San Suu Kyi (
Nobel Peace Prize#1990s 1991 laureate);
*
Nelson Mandela and Former President
Frederik Willem de Klerk (joint
Nobel Peace Prize#1990s 1993 laureates);
*
Yasser Arafat,
Shimon Peres and
Yitzhak Rabin (
Nobel Peace Prize#1990s 1994 laureates);
*
John Hume and
David Trimble (joint
Nobel Peace Prize#1990s 1998 laureates);
*
Wangari Maathai (
Nobel Peace Prize#2000s 2004 laureate).
Quotes
{{wikiquote}}
* From
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s ''
Letter from Birmingham Jail'':
:: "True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of
justice."
* From
Henry Timrod, known as ''The Poet Laureate of the Confederacy'', who wrote passionate
poems that caused many young men to enlist in the
Confederate States of America Confederate Army of the
American Civil War. But after seeing for himself the horrors of war, he wrote this poignant
prayer for peace:
:: "Not all the darkness of the land, can hide the lifted eye and hand; Nor need the clanging conflict cease, to make Thee hear our cries for peace."
* For more peace quotes, see [http://peaceforge.digitalunleashed.com/moin.cgi/PeaceQuotes]
See also
''Peace''
*
Libertarianism: philosophy believing in
non-aggression principle non-aggression
*
Peace camp: form of nonviolent protest.
*
Peace churches: Christian groups in the pacifist tradition.
*
Peace movement: social movement that seeks achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or all wars), minimize inter-human violence in a particular place or type of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving world peace.
*
Mildred Lisette Norman Peace Pilgrim:
pacifist and
peace activist
*
Peace process: describes efforts by interested parties to effect a lasting solution to long-running conflicts.
*
Peace symbol: representation or object that has come to symbolize peace.
*
Peace treaty: agreement (a peace treaty) between two hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a war or armed conflict.
*
World peace: future ideal of freedom, peace and happiness among and within all nations.
''Human condition and beliefs''
*
Christian anarchism: belief that there is only one source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answerable, the authority of God as embodied in the teachings of Jesus.
*
Democratic peace theory: theory in politics and political science which holds that democracies — specifically, liberal democracies — never or almost never go to war with one another.
*
Inner peace (or peace of mind): colloquialism that refers to a state of being mentally or spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep onself strong in the face of discord or stress.
*
Nonviolence: set of assumptions about morality, power and conflict that leads its proponents to reject the use of violence in efforts to attain social or political goals.
*
Pacifism: opposition to the use of force to settle disagreements, specifically the taking up of arms in war.
*
Peace and Conflict Studies: interdisciplinary inquiry into war as human condition and peace as human potential, as an alternative to the traditional Polemology and the strategies taught at Military academies.
*
Satyagraha: philosophy of non-violent resistance most famously employed by
Mahatma Gandhi.
*
Utopia: hypothetical perfect society.
''Things''
*
Japanese Peace Bell: gift of the people of Japan ("People of Nippon") to the United Nations on
June 8 1954.
*
Nobel Peace Prize: one of five Nobel Prizes requested by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.
''Organizations''
*
Pax Christi International: Lay Catholic peace movement, started in 1945 by Catholics devoted to promote reconiliation. It is made up of over 60,000 members in national sections, associated groups and affiliated organisations spread over 30 countries & 5 continents. The field of work inlcude demilitarisation and security, justice, human rights, ecology, development, non-violence, economic justice and reconciliation.
*
American Friends Service Committee: religious Society of Friends (Quaker) affiliated organization which works for social justice, peace and reconciliation, abolition of the death penalty, and human rights, and provides humanitarian relief.
*
UN peacekeeping Peacekeeping: personnel units of the United Nations deployed as a way to help countries torn by conflict create conditions for sustainable peace.
*
United States Department of Peace: proposed cabinet-level department of the executive branch of the U.S. government.
*
Peaceworkers UK: British NGO providing training for potential peaceworkers in nonviolent, civilian techniques of conflict transformation
''Other Meanings''
* The word "peace" is also a term used in some circles as a term for "gayness" or being homosexual.
* Peace is also a street name for cocaine.
''Lists''
*
List of places named after peace
*
Projects working for peace among Israelis and Arabs: many projects that work to create a peaceful and productive co-existence between Israelis and Arabs including the Palestinians.
References
-
Letter from Birmingham Jail by
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr..
* "Pennsylvania, A History of the Commonwealth," esp. pg. 109, edited by Randall M. Miller and William Pencak, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002.
-
Peaceful Societies, Alternatives to Violence and War Short profiles on 25 peaceful societies.
External links
-
Peace-Prayer - Pray for peace
-
Pax Christi International - International lay Catholic peace movement working for peace world ranging from grass root level to international lobby level.
-
Peaceworkers UK - UK NGO offering trainings for potential Peaceworkers
-
Biggest Link List on Peace - Better World Links
-
OnlyOneWorld.NET - Contains information on how to create peace and unification in today's world.
-
ACT for the Earth
-
Peace Forge -Wiki wiki forum and best practice database on peace and conflict resolution
-
Official homepage of the Niwano Peace Foundation
-
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
-
(See Peace) Resource Center for Peace
-
Peace in Action- Share and collaborate with peacemakers
-
Nonviolence.org
-
Peace Action (a U.S. organization)
-
The ACTivist Magazine
-
Students for Peace
-
Foundation for P.E.A.C.E.
-
Boise Peace Quilt Project
-
A.J. Muste Memorial Institute - A.J. Muste: legendary peacemaker
-
10,000 Kites - A peace project aimed at Israelis and Palestinians.
-
Seeds of Peace International Youth Organization
-
Cry For Peace - Promotiong peace through art and music
-
Save The Rainforest For Free
-
University of Innsbruck: MA Program in Peace, Development, Security and International Conflict Transformation
-
Peaceworkers.UK- UK organisation providing training for Peaceworkers
-
Mesoamerican Peace Project
-
Manifesto against conscription and the military system, on official website
-
Manifesto against conscription and the military system, with online signature, official website
-
http://www.irfanokulu.net/ahmeteng.html/irfanokulu.net/ahmeteng.html - an invitation to peace
Category:Core issues in ethics
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:''Also see:''
:Category:Government,
:Category:Law,
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:Category:Propaganda,
:Category:Revolutions,
:Category:War
:
:Category: dispute resolution ''can serve as a useful compendium of current sources of conflict in the world.''
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*** Shopping-Tip: Peace
