Browsing by Author "Gronow, Eva"

This thesis is a theoretical analysis of Johan Galtung’s conceptualization of violence. Although his conceptualization is analysed as a whole, there is a particular focus on analysing his concept of structural violence in the context of his theory of social structures. This choice of theoretical framework is justified by the fact that although Galtung’s conceptualization of violence has been criticized from numerous angles before, when surveying that literature, it became apparent that not enough attention has been given to analysing it in the framework of his theory of social structures. The explicit underlying assumption guiding this analysis is thus that one cannot properly evaluate a concept of structural violence detached from a conception of structure. This thesis has two main goals. First, in the abovementioned framework, the aim is to locate and analyse some previously overlooked and problematic theoretical and practical implications of Galtung’s conceptualization. The second goal is to evaluate the analytical usefulness of the concept, based on those findings. An extensive analysis of Galtung’s conceptualization of violence, particularly in relation to his theory of social structures, reveals some important problematic theoretical and practical implications, notably regarding his conceptualization of violence resting on the notion of the actual vs. the potential. In effect, this definition renders the concept so wide so as to render it rather meaningless, calling into question its analytical usefulness. Moreover, the analysis shows some damaging inconsistencies in the conceptualization, particularly when it comes to the proposition of structural violence necessarily lacking an active and identifiable subject. This relates to another problem highlighted throughout the analysis, namely that of a lack of an account of agency and intentionality, particularly regarding indirect violence. Most importantly, one of the main conclusions of this analysis is that the possibilities for the creation of peaceful social structures, if adhering to Galtung’s own conceptualization, is both in theory and practice virtually impossible, since some type or degree of violence will always be present in a structure. Positive peace, as envisaged by Galtung, in practice becomes a logical impossibility, if one adheres to Galtung’s own conceptualization of violence. The thesis concludes that Galtung’s conceptualization has a number of problematic implications, some of which have not been adequately noted before. Thus, his conceptualization of violence is rejected as a useful analytical framework, as well as a basis for structural reform, and by extension, Peace research. Support is given to a restricted understanding of the concept of violence.