Conceptual references: Support for a peace-building university education

Abstract

A university education committed to peace must be supported by the knowledge available in the academic and research world on peace. Hence, the authors of this documentary search aimed to scrutinize the concept of peace and to understand the scope and meaning of peace-building. The methodological approach adopted was related to language sciences, and the design involved techniques and protocols such as filing and matrices for the organization of the state of the art which, in turn, allowed the application of processes of analysis and synthesis. First, the researchers defined the passages to be used, and defined the categories. Then, they put together those which introduced similar ideas, and summarized their core proposals. According to the findings, the first studies concentrated on the causes of war in an attempt to prevent it. Later, the authors developed the concept of negative peace (absence of war), and more recently that of positive peace (transformation for coexistence, freedom, and justice). The concepts of positive, negative, cultural, neutral, imperfect and feminist peace are examined from the perspective of peace. Consequently, the authors inquired about research achievements concerning the construction of peace. It was found that these advanced initially around the concepts of peacebuilding, peacemaking and peacekeeping, and were enriched and deepened later with three types of theoretical approaches that can be classified as: maximalist, minimalist, and mixed. The research universe theorized around peace is worthy of the participation of leaders, organizations, and citizens involved in peacebuilding. However, in this case it does not pretend to reach a prescriptive tone, but rather a referential background at the service of education and the university context.