The complex concept of peace in an uncertain world

Abstract

The chapter reviews the prevalent ideas about peace and violence developed by Johan Galtung, focusing on his work on violence, particularly the concepts of personal or direct violence and structural or indirect violence, the analysis of the elite and political elite, and the manner in which these groups have managed their elite power over the centuries. The author concludes that true peace can only be achieved by the disappearance of structural violence and suggests that it is the task ahead.