IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/joupea/v58y2021i4p640-654.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ambition and ambivalence: Reconsidering positive peace as a trans-scalar peace system

Author

Listed:
  • Gearoid Millar

    (Institute for Conflict, Transition, and Peace Research (ICTPR), 1019University of Aberdeen)

Abstract

For 50 years positive peace has served as an aspirational goal for many scholars and practitioners of peace. However, much recent scholarly literature evidences a substantial ambivalence toward this ambition, suggesting that prominent theories, policies and practices in the field have failed to support positive peace. This article argues that a key reason for this shortcoming is the field’s failure to respond adequately to the evolving character of conflict (latent and overt) related to technological, legal and economic changes associated with the consolidation of globalization over this period. This consolidation has served to shrink the distances between previously remote actors, to expand exponentially the influence of many institutions, norms, practices and projects as they penetrate new societies, to concentrate power into the hands of ever fewer actors, and to reify instead of deconstruct endemic inequality and marginalization within states, between states, and across the globe. The failure of the field to respond robustly to these changes also prompts concerns about its ability to face sweeping challenges soon to come related to technological innovation, climate change, demographic shifts, labour automation and the search for new governance models. This article, therefore, reaffirms the aspirational goals of peace and conflict studies by building on Lederach’s earlier Peacebuilding Triangle to propose a Trans-Scalar Peace System which would recognize the need for coherent and supplementary policies and actions across scales (global, regional, international, nation and local) and utilize a backward-mapping approach to promote a parity of esteem for actors, institutions and decisions at each scale which would, at the same time, privilege the voice of those with the most pertinent knowledge, experience and capacity for action in support of any given policy or practice. Such an approach would honour the lessons of the ‘local turn’ while developing a global trans-scalar peace system.

Suggested Citation

  • Gearoid Millar, 2021. "Ambition and ambivalence: Reconsidering positive peace as a trans-scalar peace system," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 58(4), pages 640-654, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:joupea:v:58:y:2021:i:4:p:640-654
    DOI: 10.1177/0022343320941909
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022343320941909
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0022343320941909?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Roger Mac Ginty & Oliver Richmond, 2013. "The Local Turn in Peace Building: a critical agenda for peace," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(5), pages 763-783.
    2. Courtland Adams & Tobias Ide & Jon Barnett & Adrien Detges, 2018. "Sampling bias in climate–conflict research," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(3), pages 200-203, March.
    3. Doyle, Michael W., 2005. "Three Pillars of the Liberal Peace," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 99(3), pages 463-466, August.
    4. World Bank, 2019. "World Development Report 2019 [Rapport sur le développement dans le monde 2019]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 30435.
    5. Paul Collier & Anke Hoeffler, 2005. "Resource Rents, Governance, and Conflict," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 49(4), pages 625-633, August.
    6. J. Vernon Henderson, 2010. "Cities And Development," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 515-540, February.
    7. Thania Paffenholz, 2015. "Unpacking the local turn in peacebuilding: a critical assessment towards an agenda for future research," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(5), pages 857-874, May.
    8. David E. Bloom & David Canning & Günther Fink & Jocelyn Finlay, 2007. "Realizing the Demographic Dividend: Is Africa any different?," PGDA Working Papers 2307, Program on the Global Demography of Aging.
    9. Lukas Schlogl & Andy Sumner, 2018. "The Rise of the Robot Reserve Army: Automation and the Future of Economic Development, Work, and Wages in Developing Countries," Working Papers 487, Center for Global Development.
    10. Tondani, Davide, 2009. "Universal Basic Income and Negative Income Tax: Two different ways of thinking redistribution," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 246-255, March.
    11. Hanjra, Munir A. & Qureshi, M. Ejaz, 2010. "Global water crisis and future food security in an era of climate change," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 365-377, October.
    12. Pol Bargués-Pedreny & Elisa Randazzo, 2018. "Hybrid peace revisited: an opportunity for considering self-governance?," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(8), pages 1543-1560, August.
    13. Denskus, Tobias, 2012. "Challenging the international peacebuilding evaluation discourse with qualitative methodologies," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 148-153.
    14. Garfinkel, Michelle R. & Skaperdas, Stergios (ed.), 2012. "The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Peace and Conflict," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195392777.
    15. Thomas Risse, 2007. "Transnational Actors and World Politics," Springer Books, in: Walther Ch Zimmerli & Markus Holzinger & Klaus Richter (ed.), Corporate Ethics and Corporate Governance, pages 251-286, Springer.
    16. Davide, Tondani, 2007. "Universal Basic Income and Negative Income Tax: Two Different Ways of Thinking Redistribution," MPRA Paper 2052, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marcantonio, Richard A., 2022. "Toxic diplomacy through environmental management: A necessary next step for environmental peacebuilding," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anna K Johnson & Joséphine Lechartre & Şehrazat G Mart & Mark D Robison & Caroline Hughes, 2023. "Peace scholarship and the local turn: Hierarchies in the production of knowledge about peace," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 60(4), pages 675-690, July.
    2. Fanaye Tadesse & Headey, Derek, 2011. "Urbanization and Fertility Rates in Ethiopia," Ethiopian Journal of Economics, Ethiopian Economics Association, vol. 19(2), November.
    3. Siameh, Celestine O., 2020. "Universal Basic Income, Targeted Cash Transfers, and Progressive Taxation: Reducing Income Inequality in South Africa," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304571, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Eva‐Maria Egger & Aslihan Arslan & Emanuele Zucchini, 2022. "Does connectivity reduce gender gaps in off‐farm employment? Evidence from 12 low‐ and middle‐income countries," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(1), pages 197-218, March.
    5. Alari Paulus, 2016. "The antipoverty performance of universal and means-tested benefits with costly take-up," ImPRovE Working Papers 16/12, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    6. Mery Ferrando & Cristian Pérez Muñoz & Gonzalo Salas, 2013. "Impuestos negativos a la renta en Uruguay: ¿una política redistributiva alternativa?," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, January.
    7. Deepen, Yannick & Kurtenbach, Sabine, 2023. "Coping with complexity: Dealing with non-state armed actors," GIGA Working Papers 337, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    8. Shania Bhalotia & Swati Dhingra & Fjolla Kondirolli, 2020. "City of dreams no more: the impact of Covid-19 on urban workers in India," CEP Covid-19 Analyses cepcovid-19-008, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    9. Almohamad, Selman & Kirchschlager, Markus & Kurtenbach, Sabine, 2020. "Peacebuilding after war and violence - Neighbourhood matters," GIGA Working Papers 324, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    10. Gamboa, Yudy, 2023. "Citizen participation in Colombia’s peacebuilding process. Analysis of the mechanisms for the participation of the victims of the armed conflict," MPRA Paper 121231, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Samantha Melis & Raymond Apthorpe, 2020. "The Politics of the Multi-Local in Disaster Governance," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 366-374.
    12. Melia, Elvis, 2020. "African jobs in the digital era: Export options with a focus on online labour," IDOS Discussion Papers 3/2020, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    13. Kederer, Jan-Felix & Klein, Adelheid & Kovarich, Daniel & Kumm, Lena, 2017. "Social justice in the context of redistribution," The Constitutional Economics Network Working Papers 01-2017, University of Freiburg, Department of Economic Policy and Constitutional Economic Theory.
    14. Jiaqi Yang & Geetha Mohan & Supriya Pipil & Kensuke Fukushi, 2021. "Review on basic income (BI): its theories and empirical cases," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 23(2), pages 203-239, December.
    15. Zaineb Majoka & Robert Palacios, 2019. "Targeting versus Universality," World Bank Publications - Reports 32789, The World Bank Group.
    16. Karina Acosta & Hengyu Gu, 2022. "Locked up? The development and internal migration nexus in Colombia," Documentos de Trabajo Sobre Economía Regional y Urbana 19931, Banco de la República, Economía Regional.
    17. Pelai, Ricardo & Hagerman, Shannon M. & Kozak, Robert, 2020. "Biotechnologies in agriculture and forestry: Governance insights from a comparative systematic review of barriers and recommendations," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    18. Tamay Besiroglu & Nicholas Emery-Xu & Neil Thompson, 2022. "Economic impacts of AI-augmented R&D," Papers 2212.08198, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2023.
    19. Rahmani, Javad & Danesh-Yazdi, Mohammad, 2022. "Quantifying the impacts of agricultural alteration and climate change on the water cycle dynamics in a headwater catchment of Lake Urmia Basin," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    20. Pierfrancesco Rolla & Patricia Justino, 2022. "The social consequences of organized crime in Italy," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2022-106, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:joupea:v:58:y:2021:i:4:p:640-654. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.prio.no/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.