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Very Short Introductions #407
Peace: A Very Short Introduction
The concept of peace has always attracted radical thought, action, and practices. It has been taken to mean merely an absence of overt violence or war, but in the contemporary era it is often used interchangeably with 'peacemaking', 'peacebuilding', 'conflict resolution', and 'statebuilding'.
The modern concept of peace has therefore broadened from the mere absence of violence to something much more complicated.
In this Very Short Introduction, Oliver Richmond explores the evolution of peace in practice and in theory, exploring our modern assumptions about peace and the various different interpretations of its applications.
ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and
enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
The modern concept of peace has therefore broadened from the mere absence of violence to something much more complicated.
In this Very Short Introduction, Oliver Richmond explores the evolution of peace in practice and in theory, exploring our modern assumptions about peace and the various different interpretations of its applications.
ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and
enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
- GenresNonfictionPolitics
160 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2013
22 people are currently reading
328 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 17, 2024
Mistitled. It should actually be "Liberal Peace: A Very Short Introduction".
Peace Studies became a standalone academic discipline following the collapse of the Soviet Union and its network of revolutionary movements and allied progressive states. The ensuing vacuum is filled with imperialist governments, corporations, institutions and NGOs who want their cut from the spoils of the Cold War. Therefore, the "peace studies" field is almost entirely dominated by imperialist thinking: Find a civil war -> Start a resolution process -> Open the country into corporate capital -> Iron out the inconveniences with your funded NGOs (in close collaboration with the security forces).
Richmond's book is no different. According to him, "the dominant peacebuilding actors" and donors (p. 89) are World Bank, USA, UK, Japan or the EU!
This is also funny: "... inequality and social exclusion (i.e. very high statistical indicators of poverty and inequality) are often little changed from the point at which a peace process began." (p. 116)
That clearly shows the real intention behind the "peace studies" or peacebuilding efforts: Never mind the poverty or inequality. Just restore the monopoly of force of the capital and cripple the popular classes' ability to challenge the system using violent methods and call it a democracy. If you would like to read more about the non-existing line between liberal peace and pacification, read The Fabrication of Social Order: A Critical Theory of Police Power by Mark Neocleous.
Peace Studies became a standalone academic discipline following the collapse of the Soviet Union and its network of revolutionary movements and allied progressive states. The ensuing vacuum is filled with imperialist governments, corporations, institutions and NGOs who want their cut from the spoils of the Cold War. Therefore, the "peace studies" field is almost entirely dominated by imperialist thinking: Find a civil war -> Start a resolution process -> Open the country into corporate capital -> Iron out the inconveniences with your funded NGOs (in close collaboration with the security forces).
Richmond's book is no different. According to him, "the dominant peacebuilding actors" and donors (p. 89) are World Bank, USA, UK, Japan or the EU!
This is also funny: "... inequality and social exclusion (i.e. very high statistical indicators of poverty and inequality) are often little changed from the point at which a peace process began." (p. 116)
That clearly shows the real intention behind the "peace studies" or peacebuilding efforts: Never mind the poverty or inequality. Just restore the monopoly of force of the capital and cripple the popular classes' ability to challenge the system using violent methods and call it a democracy. If you would like to read more about the non-existing line between liberal peace and pacification, read The Fabrication of Social Order: A Critical Theory of Police Power by Mark Neocleous.
December 29, 2014
I guess this was good but it had a problem of feeling repetitive, repeating the same concepts in slightly different ways in different chapters. It could have made the same points in half the space, perhaps by being organized purely chronologically, and then had more time for additional ideas.
March 18, 2025
Would have benefited from case studies. Largely discusses western history of peace.
October 3, 2023
Insightful and disappointing at the same time. The book can provide a deeper understanding of ongoing world events and recent conflicts and it gives a good idea of how the same 'peace' word is interpreted in different way which on its own could lead to misunderstanding and conflict. Peacekeeping interventions, NGOs and the World bank, the infamous 'red lines' - it is all there and after reading you might better comprehend what are politicians implying in their speeches.
I'd say three aspects were particularly disappointing to me. Firstly, this whole book rather illustrates that attempts to achieve piece are failing. 'Peace conference' before WW1 sounds like a bad joke. Many other such example can be found there.
In addition, the book operates on a pretty abstract level and barely has any numbers or factual statements to back its claims. What were violence levels before and after intervention? How did peacebuilding practices affect the number of refugees in conflicting states? You won't find those.
And finally, the book is written from Western perspective, which is fine, but lacks any context to why is western/northern world even interested in peace in distand lands such as Somalia or Timor? How is peace there affecting UN, neighboring states or western states? Without this understanding, it does sound like global west is trying to enforce their lifestyle and values to other nations that might be not that interested. This book is about politics, so just assuming that UN is emposing human rights out of sheer goodwill does not work.
As the title says, this is a very brief introduction, but is still pretty repetitive. I would be glad if author could address broader questions instead of rephrasing more or less the same ideas in each chapter.
I'd say three aspects were particularly disappointing to me. Firstly, this whole book rather illustrates that attempts to achieve piece are failing. 'Peace conference' before WW1 sounds like a bad joke. Many other such example can be found there.
In addition, the book operates on a pretty abstract level and barely has any numbers or factual statements to back its claims. What were violence levels before and after intervention? How did peacebuilding practices affect the number of refugees in conflicting states? You won't find those.
And finally, the book is written from Western perspective, which is fine, but lacks any context to why is western/northern world even interested in peace in distand lands such as Somalia or Timor? How is peace there affecting UN, neighboring states or western states? Without this understanding, it does sound like global west is trying to enforce their lifestyle and values to other nations that might be not that interested. This book is about politics, so just assuming that UN is emposing human rights out of sheer goodwill does not work.
As the title says, this is a very brief introduction, but is still pretty repetitive. I would be glad if author could address broader questions instead of rephrasing more or less the same ideas in each chapter.
September 20, 2019
This little book, which is thankfully very short, has at its heart a very deep contradiction. Not only does it show the peace movement as being like feminism in that in has a lot of different and somewhat contradictory waves and that it has at its core a lot of contradictory impulses. To put it bluntly, some who profess to be advocates of peace have as their view of peace a redistributive ideal that requires waging class war on behalf of the envious poor against those who are better of. I happen not to be a pacifist myself, but reading this book made me feel a great deal of anger at the hypocrisy of many people who claim moral high ground as pacifists but then seek internal conflicts on behalf of misguided and mistaken political agendas. It appears that like so much else, much that people call peace is in fact not peace, and it is very possible that a group of people who all claim a commitment to peace would have very different conceptions by what is meant by the peace that they seek for themselves and the world. And that is not even getting into the problem of how peace is to be enforced upon the unwilling.
This little pocket-sized book of just over 100 pages is divided into 9 chapters by an author who appears not to realize the self-contradictory nature of the subject he has chosen to write about. After acknowledgements, a list of illustrations, and an introduction on the multiple dimensions of peace, the author begins the book with a discussion of how peace is to be defined (1). After that comes a discussion of peace in history (2) as well as peace in modernity (3), with its various waves and conceptions. The author then talks about the victor's peace in history (4), then moves on to constitutional peace (5) requiring consent of the governed, and then institutional peace (6) established through the UN and other agencies, and then the civil peace (7) that comes when a realm has internal justice and an absence of exploitation and internal hostility. After this comes a discussion of various matters like peacekeeping, peacebuilding, and statebuilding and how these aim to help in the establishment of peace (8). After that the author closes the book with a discussion of hybrid forms of peace (9) along with an epilogue that discusses new agendas for peace, suggestions for further reading, and an index.
To put it very mildly, this book is trash. If it is useful in any extent, it is in helping the reader to determine the various complex ways that politically manipulative and intellectually dishonest people refer to peace. The book has fulsome praise for the UN, that organization of nations where the worst human rights violators routinely support hypocritical resolutions against other member states and are chosen for the human rights commissions, and whose craven and cowardly peacekeepers stand aside while genocide occurs. The author praises different waves of peace, not recognizing that one of the main ways that internal peace in countries is ruined (to say nothing of the well-being of the people of that country) is when theft is viewed as justice, and warfare against productive classes is viewed as peace. The author has enough contradictions to deal with when examining how the current peace that we now possess is largely one that is thanks to the military strength of the United States enforcing the postwar and post-Cold War order, and that we can expect a lot less peace if other nations (like China) become more powerful. Save yourself some time and skip this book.
This little pocket-sized book of just over 100 pages is divided into 9 chapters by an author who appears not to realize the self-contradictory nature of the subject he has chosen to write about. After acknowledgements, a list of illustrations, and an introduction on the multiple dimensions of peace, the author begins the book with a discussion of how peace is to be defined (1). After that comes a discussion of peace in history (2) as well as peace in modernity (3), with its various waves and conceptions. The author then talks about the victor's peace in history (4), then moves on to constitutional peace (5) requiring consent of the governed, and then institutional peace (6) established through the UN and other agencies, and then the civil peace (7) that comes when a realm has internal justice and an absence of exploitation and internal hostility. After this comes a discussion of various matters like peacekeeping, peacebuilding, and statebuilding and how these aim to help in the establishment of peace (8). After that the author closes the book with a discussion of hybrid forms of peace (9) along with an epilogue that discusses new agendas for peace, suggestions for further reading, and an index.
To put it very mildly, this book is trash. If it is useful in any extent, it is in helping the reader to determine the various complex ways that politically manipulative and intellectually dishonest people refer to peace. The book has fulsome praise for the UN, that organization of nations where the worst human rights violators routinely support hypocritical resolutions against other member states and are chosen for the human rights commissions, and whose craven and cowardly peacekeepers stand aside while genocide occurs. The author praises different waves of peace, not recognizing that one of the main ways that internal peace in countries is ruined (to say nothing of the well-being of the people of that country) is when theft is viewed as justice, and warfare against productive classes is viewed as peace. The author has enough contradictions to deal with when examining how the current peace that we now possess is largely one that is thanks to the military strength of the United States enforcing the postwar and post-Cold War order, and that we can expect a lot less peace if other nations (like China) become more powerful. Save yourself some time and skip this book.
February 11, 2020
If you're looking for a great review of history and the practices of various peace practices throughout time, this is your book! I had some trouble keeping up, and found it a bit dry at times.
But, it did make me think a lot about how we construct peace on local, state, national and international levels. I especially enjoyed the final chapters talking about recent development and future hopes for innovative peace practices.
But, it did make me think a lot about how we construct peace on local, state, national and international levels. I especially enjoyed the final chapters talking about recent development and future hopes for innovative peace practices.
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May 10, 2020Ò
December 15, 2025
wasn't short enough.
April 3, 2015
Illuminating introduction to this desirable human condition and how it is inevitable - and of course, with the issues that prevent this course..
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews