PACS201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Structural Violence, Domestic Violence

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Peace and Conflict Studies
• Course: PACS201
• Professor: Lowell Ewert

Document Summary

So let us first describe what we mean when we talk about conflict. Conrad brunk, a big proponent of peace and conflict studies, defines conflict as (cid:498)what results from the existence, real or imagined, of incompatible goals, beliefs or activities(cid:499) (cid:523)brunk, There are three important things to keep in mind when we(cid:495)re argue is that conflict isn(cid:495)t inherently good or bad, but rather our experience of considering the study of conflict. What scholars in the peace and conflict field will conflict depends on whether it is handled constructively or destructively. We emphasize that there is a dual nature to conflict, as it can bring us both danger and opportunity. This is why there is an emphasis in peace and conflict studies on the need to focus on how we handle conflict, not necessarily just on how to prevent it. The second thing it keep in mind is that conflict is not the same as violence.