Review Article : On 'A Major Event in the Social Sciences'
| Author | Hans-Henrik Holm |
| Published date | 01 March 1978 |
| Date | 01 March 1978 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/001083677801300104 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Review
Article
On
’A
Major
Event
in
the
Social
Sciences’*
HANS-HENRIK
HOLM
Institute
of
Political
Science,
University
of
Aarhus,
Aarhus
Holm,
H.-H.
On
’A
Major
Event
in
the
Social
Sciences’.
Cooperation
and
Conflict,
XIII
,
1978,
61-74.
So
far
only
the
first
two
volumes
on
peace
research
and
one
of
the
volumes
on
methodology
have
been
published.
Even
though
final
judgement
will
have
to
await
the
remaining
volumes,
this
essay
is
an
attempt
to
give
a
more
comprehensive
view
than
one
would
get
from
just
looking
at
the
published
volumes.
Since
many
of
the
articles
are
already
available
to
the
present
author
in
one
form
or
the
other,
I
have
tried
to
sketch
the
general
changes
within
Galtung’s
writings
with
respect
to
the
concept
of
peace,
the
epistemological
basis
and
in
the
areas
analyzed.
The
major
trend
is
one
of
expansion.
The
consequences
of
this
expansion
are
discussed,
and
it
is
concluded
that
the
Essays
may
prove
to
be
a
source
of
creativity
for
the
social
scientist.
I.
INTRODUCTION
A
small
Danish
publisher,
Christian
Ej-
lers,
is
producing
what
is
being
claimed
as
’a
major
publishing
event
in
the
social
sciences’:
Johan
Galtung’s,
Essays in
Peace
Research,
Vols.
I-V.
From
a
quantitative
viewpoint
this
claim
is
certainly
correct.
Five
volumes
of
about
400
pages
each,
plus
two
addi-
tional
volumes
on
methodology,
all
by
the
same
author
is
by
no
means
an
every-
day
event.
The
stated
reason
for
publishing
these
100
essays
together
is
that
because
of
the
diversity
of
the
subjects
covered
and
the
different
places
in
which
the
articles
have
been
published,
the
connection
between
all
these
articles
is
apparent
only
to
the
author.’
The
publication
is
meant
to
solve
the
problem
of
availability
by
presenting
all
the
major
articles
together
in
one
set
of
books,
and
to
solve
the
problem
of
connection
by
adding
a
short
introduction
to
each
volume
giving
background
infor-
mation
on
the
articles
and
establishing
the
links
between
them.
Furthermore,
many
of
the
essays
are
revised,
and
a
few
brand
new
ones
have
been
written
in
order
to
fill
gaps
in
previous
research,
the
underlying
inten-
tion
being
to
cover
all
subjects
related
to
peace
and
war.
That
the
result
is
voluminous,
is
under-
standable
and
in
line
with
a
general
tendency
in
studies
related
to
peace
and
war.2
Still,
these
essays
are
only
part
of
Galtung’s
production,
and
the
number
of
articles
and
books
pouring
out
of
Oslo
and
now
Geneva
is
certainly
not
on
the
decrease.3
3
Of
the
five
volumes
to
be
dealt
with
here,
the
first
two
have
already
been
published.4
Volume One
on
’Peace:
Re-
search,
Education
and
Action’
deals
with
the
major
questions
of
definition;
as
the
subsequent
volumes
it
is
arranged
in
chronological
order.s
The
second
volume
deals
with
war
and
the
arms
race,
dis-
armament
and
public
opinion,
peace-
keeping,
peace-making
and
peace-build-
ing,
and
non-military
defense.
The
three
‘forthcoming’6
volumes
will
deal
with
peace
and
social
structure,
peace
and
world
structure,
and
peace
problems
generally.
The
problems
discussed
in
the
final
volume
will
be
grouped
according
to
*
Johan
Galtung,
Essays
in
Peace
Research,
Vols.
I-V and
Essays
in
Methodology,
Vols.
I-II,
Chr.
Ejlers,
Copenhagen.
To continue reading
Request your trial