Peace and Conflict Studies - Softcover

Barash, David P.; Webel, Charles P. (Peter)

3.66

56 ratings by Goodreads

9781412961202: Peace and Conflict Studies

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1412961203 ISBN 13: 9781412961202

Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc, 2008

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Thoroughly revised, the Second Edition of Peace and Conflict Studies sets the new gold standard as an accessible introduction and comprehensive exploration of this vital subject. The authors share their vast knowledge and analysis about 21st-century world events – including new coverage on timely topics such as terrorism, the truth and reconciliation process, and the clash of civilizations. With an encyclopedic scope, this introductory text chronicles a plethora of important global topics from pre-history to the present.

Key Features of the Second Edition

Includes updated chapters and examines current conflicts, including the Iraq War

Explores the important aspects of positive peace, individual violence, nationalism, and terrorism

Provides numerous visual aids, questions for further study, and suggested readings

Furnishes a comprehensive range of material to enlighten and enrich future discussion and encourage further academic pursuit

Intended Audience

This text is invaluable for students and professors in peace and or conflict studies, psychology and or the sociology of peace and conflict studies, international relations, comparative politics, history, and others interested in gaining a solid foundation about the global arena.

Praise for the First Edition

"Barash and Webel have penned a masterpiece that should appeal to seasoned scholars of peace and conflict studies as well as to others who have little knowledge of this multidisciplinary field."
--Daniel J. Christie, Ohio State University

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About the Author:

David P. Barash (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin) has been with the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington since 1973. His studies span animal behavior and social psychology, with concentrations in sociobiology, psychological aspects of the arms race and nuclear war, peace studies, and animal behavior and evolution. A prolific author, he has written more than 250 technical articles and 31 books ranging from monographs to college textbooks to popular trade titles. His book, Introduction to Peace Studies (1991), was the first comprehensive undergraduate textbook in the field of Peace Studies.

PREFACE

Welcome to Peace and Conflict Studies. We have written this book out of confidence that this recent discipline has acquired the academic legitimacy and political efficacy of other scholarly pursuits. Certainly, it has long had the necessary intellectual substance, as well as relevance for students, scholars, social activists, and decision makers.

This is a rather long book, but we don’t apologize. Its length is not unusual, for example, when compared with introductory textbooks in other mainstream subjects such as psychology, philosophy, chemistry, and economics. Because Peace and Conflict Studies is intended as a text primarily for undergraduate students, we have sought to emphasize important themes and readability rather than immersion in the technical literature. On the other hand, our impression is that many North American college students—even those interested in the study and pursuit of peace—tend, regrettably, to be uninformed about history, often presuming that peace as an issue began with the nuclear freeze movement in the 1980s, or at most during the Vietnam War. Hence, we have been relatively generous with historical material, to supplement and if possible deepen the reader’s appreciation of current issues, such as civil wars involving nationalism and “ethnic cleansing,” nuclear proliferation, international law, world poverty, and pressing environmental concerns.

It is a cliche—often trotted out at graduation ceremonies—that “you (i.e., the graduating students) have reached a crossroad,” requiring important, life-defining choices. Well, all of us—that is, human beings—have in fact reached such a crossroad, although perhaps humanity is always approaching one choice point or another. Our global situation seems constructed of equal parts danger and opportunity: opportunity because the world is no longer hostage to the paralyzing effects of the debilitating U.S.-Soviet conflict formerly known as the Cold War, but also danger because the risk of mass destruction still looms. There is also an array of additional threats to our species and our planet: sometimes overt and violent, sometimes covert and insidious. Added to this is a growing sense of complacency, at least on the part of many relatively affluent citizens of the United States and other Western countries.

We need to point out, as well, that our interest in this project goes beyond mere scholarship, pedagogy, or even our (presumably) enlightened self-interest as world citizens. Thus, we are personally committed to the social and political goals of Peace and Conflict Studies. The field itself differs from most other human sciences in that it is value oriented, and unabashedly so. Accordingly, we wish to be up front about our own values, which are frankly antiwar, antiviolence, antinuclear, antiauthoritarian, antiestablishment, proenvironment, pro-human rights, pro-social justice, propeace, and politically progressive. At the same time, we believe that emotional and political efforts at personal and social transformation are most effective if they build on serious intellectual efforts, including an attempt to understand all sides of complex debates.

We also acknowledge that—to our chagrin—a scholarly account of such material as poverty, environmental threats, the denial of human rights, and especially war necessarily involves a degree of detached writing that can never capture the vitality of the subject matter, not to mention the ineffable horrors and terror of violence and war. We can only plead that we have done our best. We also wish to say a bit about the making of this book. Its first edition was called Introduction to Peace Studies and was written by David Barash. The book eventually went out of print, and Charles Webel contacted David about a second edition. David and Charles agreed to rewrite it as a work for a new century. The text you have in your hands is their joint product, with Charles principally responsible for revising the first half (Parts I and II) and David for the second half (Parts III and IV).

As is often the case with coauthored books, there are some unresolved, and probably unresolvable, issues connected with this work. In this case, although we agree on almost every matter discussed in this book—which is remarkable given the range and number of topics covered—we are not in complete accord about the “end of the Cold War” or the “dangers of the new technologies.” But we most emphatically agree that these important matters should be researched, discussed, and debated—as should all the vital and often controversial topics discussed in this book.

While the present book was in press, the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., were attacked, resulting in at least 4,000 deaths and unleashing enormous grief, confusion, and anger. These horrifying events, although to some degree unique, also share features with many other acts of warfare and collective violence throughout history; if anything, they make peace and conflict studies all the more relevant, especially to citizens of the United States, who have not experienced such carnage on their own soil since the Civil War.

In the aftermath, it seems more important than ever to inquire deeply into the causes of all forms of violence, whether state sponsored or not, as well as to ask about suitable responses, not only by sovereign states but also via the institutions of international law; in addition, persons concerned about peace must question seriously the morality as well as the efficacy of framing "security" in strictly military terms. Furthermore, these terrible events have emphasized the role of emotional, economic, religious, and historical factors, along with the degree to which East-West antagonisms may be eclipsed by North-South disparities and conflicts, as we enter the 21st century.

Peace has never been more important, or complicated.

We thank and applaud you for pursuing peace and conflict studies and encourage you to pursue your interest in understanding and promoting peace long after you have finished reading this book.

May peace be with you all.

DAVID P. BARASH Seattle, Washington

CHARLES P. WEBEL Berkeley, California

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