Anth 11a Types uses and structures of peace and violence -...

Conor MacLean
Dr. Kroot
ANTH 11a
13, October 2017
Peace and violence, or at least the cognitive idea of them, have existed since the
beginning human cognition, and the actual enactment of them since much further in the past.
However for violence to still exist today and on such a controversial and pervasive scale seems
unnecessary, especially in the country most consider the superpower of the world, the U.S. To
properly talk about peace, violence, and their actors in our country and the world as a whole, we
must first define them. Peace and violence are not very simple terms to define, in the book
Keeping the Peace , Ximena Davies-Vengoechea defines peace and violence as “coexistent
dynamics.” and challenges the concept that peace is the absence of violence. There are many
different forms of each; the definitions change from one form to the next and from each person's
subjective viewpoint. In order to more clearly define these terms they have been divided into
subsections; negative peace, positive peace, direct violence, and structural violence. Negative
peace is generally defined as the lack of violence or a time of peace that is brought directly by
the ending of some violent practice. Positive peace can be defined as peace with justice for all,
implying almost nowhere has ever truly been at peace, especially somewhere as dynamic and
diverse as the U.S. Direct violence is violence enacted on a specific person or group of people