Negative versus positive definitions of peace

Our research team, the Group on International Perspectives on Governmental Aggression and Peace (GIPGAP), values the distinction between positive and negative peace: Peace symbol

  • Negative peace refers to definitions that identify peace with the absence of war or armed conflict.
  • Positive peace refers to definitions that focus on the prerequisites and criteria for a sustainable peace, including respect for universal human rights (which are not synonymous with the legal rights granted by any particular legal authority).

According to GIPGAP’s research, to be discussed more in later posts, in the U.S. it is the negative peace definitions that predominate. Why is this?

The major public media in this country certainly do little to promote the idea of peace per se, let alone positive peace.

A report released by the Institute for Economics and Peace in October 2010 described a study regarding violence and peace in television programs. Included in the research were 37 news and current affairs programs from 23 networks in 15 countries, including the United States.

Overall, only 1.6% of the stories examined in the study considered issues of positive peace. However, there was some variation across the countries in amount of media time devoted to issues of violence. According to the report, “Of the 10 TV programs with the highest level of violence coverage, 8 are from the United States or the United Kingdom.”

This research suggests both a lack of interest in peace as a product of respect for human rights and a conviction that “violence sells.” Therefore, is it surprising that when most Americans think about peace, they see it primarily as just an absence of war?

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology