Introduction
The term peace studies generally refers to the curricula, which teach peace concepts, means of bringing peace, or means to change the violent behaviors to the use of the nonaggressive methods of solving social and personal problems. Peace studies essentially aims for critical analysis of warfare, political violence, and armed conflict as deeply rooted phenomena, which affect the day-to-day lives of millions of individuals around the continent. Peace studies actually involve a dynamic relationship between practice and theory, and between peace education, peace activism, and peace research. For that reason, this essay focuses on a number of criticisms that peace studies theory has faced.
Some criticisms have essentially been aimed at peace studies theory. Some critics argue that peace studies theory fails to produce the prescriptions for resolving or managing the global conflicts (Genest 2004). In supporting their criticism, these critics argue that ideology always trumps pragmatism and objectivity.
Others argue that peace studies theory is characterized by various central problems such as armed conflict, political violence, and war. According to these critics, peace studies theory is hypocritical in nature because it openly or tacitly supports the acts of terrorism as a permitted strategy for disempowered to redress perceived or real grievances against those who are powerful.
Additionally, peace studies theory is criticized by its policies, which are proposed to eliminate causes of violence. The critics claim that these policies are uniformly leftist, and not definitely policies that would find broad agreement among the social scientists. In supporting their criticism, they argue that peace studies theory in real sense supports violence in pursuit of the leftist ideology hence it is hard to be taken seriously (Genest 2004).
In a nutshell, I strongly believe that the contemporary world makes peace studies theory unrealistic. This is because the theory is more defined in the negative terms, through the dominant problems with which it is concerned as demonstrated by Camilo Mejia: Killing Changes You.” video clip than in positive terms. These problems include armed conflict, war, and political violence, as stated above.
References
Genest, M. A. (2004). Conflict and cooperation: Evolving theories of international relations. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.
Camilo Mejia: "Killing Changes You" [Video file]. (2009, July 16). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL9gUoHf58c&list=PL9E33273DB4AC696A
