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Freedom from Discrimination: On the Coloniality of Positive Peace

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The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace

Abstract

Positive peace is a key concept in peace and conflict studies. While the term acknowledges multiple layers of violence and aims to offer an alternative to oppression and exploitation embedded in society, scholarly work on positive peace has largely focused on identifying the structures of violence the term aims to overcome rather than on developing an epistemological framework for the concept itself. This chapter focuses on the epistemic limitations of the concept by interrogating how the term has been deployed and from where it has been enunciated. Drawing on the concept of coloniality, the chapter specifically addresses the absence of epistemic violence in the analysis of positive peace. The chapter outlines how peace and conflict studies as a field has not sufficiently engaged with how the genealogies and underpinnings of terms like positive and negative peace are fundamentally aligned with Western thought. The chapter argues if the current paradigm is a colonial system that is racist, capitalist, heterosexist, and ableist, a “positive peace” can only be theorized and approached by critically and intersectionally challenging coloniality and the epistemic violence(s) it produces.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Health, and Human Development, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Mahdis Azarmandi

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  1. Mahdis Azarmandi
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Correspondence to Mahdis Azarmandi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Katerina Standish

  2. National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Heather Devere

  3. National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Adan Suazo

  4. Department of Criminology and Social Sciences, University of Derby, Derby, UK

    Rachel Rafferty

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Azarmandi, M. (2022). Freedom from Discrimination: On the Coloniality of Positive Peace. In: Standish, K., Devere, H., Suazo, A., Rafferty, R. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0969-5_32

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