Ambition and ambivalence: Reconsidering positive peace as a trans-scalar peace system
| Author | Gearoid Millar |
| DOI | 10.1177/0022343320941909 |
| Published date | 01 July 2021 |
| Date | 01 July 2021 |
Ambition and ambivalence: Reconsidering
positive peace as a trans-scalar peace system
Gearoid Millar
Institute for Conflict, Transition, and Peace Research (ICTPR), University 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 globa lization 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 govern-
ance 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.
Keywords
complexity theory, conflict systems, peace systems, peacebuilding, positive peace
Introduction: Ambition and ambivalence in
contemporary peace and conflict studies
Peace and Conflict Studies (PCS) has long been recog-
nized as an inherently normative discipline (Boulding,
1978: 343–344). PCS scholars certainly seek to under-
stand the dynamics of peace and conflict through empiri-
cal study, but they also seek to develop, communicate or
apply methods for reducing the extent or intensity of
violent conflict and broadening and deepening peace.
The field has grown over the past 70 years, incorporating
lessons from a diverse set of disciplines. These include
Social-Psychology (Kelman & Cohen, 1976; Nadler,
Malloy & Fisher, 2008), International Relations (Azar
& Burton, 1986; Richmond, 2003), Sociology (Coser,
1956; Kriesberg & Dayton, 2012), Anthropology
(Avruch, 1998; Nordstrom, 2004), Economics (Collier
& Hoeffler, 2005; Garfinkel & Skaperdas, 2012), Law
(Teitel, 2000; Menkel-Meadow, 2004), and Theology
(Philpott, 2009). As it developed, it also benefited from
the activist energies of the Cold War era antinuclear
proliferation movements (see Marullo, Pagnucco &
Smith, 1996) and incorporated an array of theories and
approaches from various subfields of scholarship and
practice – such as alternative dispute resolution (Barrett
& Barrett, 2004) and negotiation (Fisher, Ury & Patton,
Corresponding author:
g.millar@abdn.ac.uk
Journal of Peace Research
2021, Vol. 58(4) 640–654
ªThe Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/0022343320941909
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