Note on Galtung's Concept of 'Violence
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7857955 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kjell Eide (Ministry of Education, Oslo, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1971 |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 71-71 |
| Publication date | 1971-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Peace Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3433 • E-ISSN: 1460-3578 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/002234337100800107 |
| OpenAlex | W2008534346 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
This note refers to the article by Johan Galtung on 'Violence, Peace, and Peace Research' (Journal of Peace Research, No. 3, 1969), in which he suggests the following definition: 'Violence is here defined as the cause of the difference between the potential and the actual'. While accepting Galtung's point that a concept of violence relating only to somatic incapacitation is too narrow, I find it difficult to attach a precise meaning to his extended concept. It appears to raise the same kind of difficulties as attempts by engineers to find a purely technical definition of optimality. The first problem is the question of technical feasibility. Galtung recognizes this point, e. g. by accepting the curing of tuberculosis as a relatively recent aspect of 'the potential'. Yet, the technically feasible at a given point of time is not easy to define; and in a dynamic perspective, even technical feasibility is clearly a function of economic factors, the resources available and their allocation. Also in a static situation, however, there will always be a major discrepancy between the technically feasible and the economically possible. The existence of a method for heart transplantation, at extremely high costs, is part of our technical potential today. As a general cure for heart failures, it is far from being part of our economic potential, unless we devote a substantial part of available resources to this specific purpose. Doing so would, on the other hand, reduce our chances of making use of the existing technical potential in other areas
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| Citations per year | 0.13 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1978 - 2020 (43) |
| Highly cited | No |