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Johan Galtung From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Johan Galtung Johan Galtung - Trento.JPG Born 	24 October 1930 (age 82) Oslo, Norway Fields 	Sociology, peace and conflict studies, Mathematics Institutions 	Columbia University, University of Oslo, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) Alma mater 	University of Oslo Known for 	Principal founder of peace and conflict studies Notable awards 	Right Livelihood Award (1987)

Johan Galtung (born 24 October 1930) is a Norwegian sociologist, mathematician and the principal founder of the discipline of peace and conflict studies.[1] He founded the Peace Research Institute Oslo in 1959, serving as its director until 1970, and established the Journal of Peace Research in 1964. In 1969 he was appointed to the world's first chair in peace and conflict studies, at the University of Oslo. He resigned his professorship in 1977 and has since held professorships at other universities. He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1987.

Galtung is known for contributions to mathematics and sociology in the 1950s, political science in the 1960s, economics and history in the 1970s, macro history, anthropology and theology in the 1980s. He has developed several influential theories, such as the distinction between positive and negative peace, structural violence, theories on conflict and conflict resolution, the structural theory of imperialism, and the theory of the United States as simultaneously a republic and an empire.[2] Contents

1 Biography 2 Mediation for peace 3 Major ideas 3.1 The US as a republic and empire 3.2 Predictions 4 Reception 4.1 Criticism 5 Selected works 6 Selected awards and recognitions 7 References 8 Sources 9 External links

Biography Galtung speaking at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Mexico City.

Galtung was born in Oslo. He earned the cand. real. (PhD)[3] degree in mathematics at the University of Oslo in 1956, and a year later completed the mag. art. (PhD)[3] degree in sociology at the same university.[2] Galtung received the first of nine honorary doctorates in 1975.[citation needed]

Galtung's father and paternal grandfather were both physicians. The Galtung name has its origins in Hordaland, where his paternal grandfather was born. Nevertheless, his mother, Helga Holmboe, was born in central Norway, in Trøndelag, while his father was born in Østfold, in the south. Galtung has been married twice, and has two children by his first wife Ingrid Eide, Harald Galtung and Andreas Galtung, and two by his second wife Fumiko Nishimura, Irene Galtung and Fredrik Galtung, the co-founder and chief executive of Tiri.[4]

Upon receiving his mag.art. degree, Galtung moved to Columbia University, in New York City, where he taught for five semesters as an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology.[5] In 1959, Galtung returned to Oslo, where he founded the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). He served as the institute's director until 1969, and saw the institute develop from a department within the Norwegian Institute of Social Research into an independent research institute with enabling funds from the Norwegian Ministry of Education.[6]

In 1964, Galtung led PRIO to establish the first academic journal devoted to Peace Studies: the Journal of Peace Research.[6] In the same year, he assisted in the founding of the International Peace Research Association.[7] In 1969 he left PRIO for a position as professor of peace and conflict research at the University of Oslo, a position he held until 1978.[6]

He then served as the director general of the International University Centre in Dubrovnik, also serving as the president of the World Future Studies Federation.[8] He has also held visiting positions at other universities, including Santiago, Chile, the United Nations University in Geneva, and at Columbia, Princeton and the University of Hawaii.[9] He has served at so many universities that he has "probably taught more students on more campuses around the world than any other contemporary sociologist".[8] Galtung is currently teaching courses in the Human Science Department at Saybrook University.[10]

Galtung is a prolific researcher, having made contributions to many fields in sociology. He has published more than 1000 articles and over 100 books.[11] Economist and fellow peace researcher Kenneth Boulding has said of Galtung that his "output is so large and so varied that it is hard to believe that it comes from a human".[12] He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.[13] Mediation for peace

Galtung experienced World War II in German-occupied Norway, and as a 12 year old saw his father arrested by the Nazis. By 1951 he was already a committed peace mediator, and elected to do 18 months of social service in place of his obligatory military service. After 12 months, Galtung insisted that the remainder of his social service be spent in activities relevant to peace, to which the Norwegian authorities responded by sending him to prison, where he served six months.[5]

While Galtung's academic research is clearly intended to promote peace, he has shifted toward more concrete and constructive peace mediation as he has grown older. In 1993, he co-founded TRANSCEND: A Peace Development Environment Network,[14][non-primary source needed] an organization for conflict transformation by peaceful means. There are four traditional but unsatisfactory ways in which conflicts between two parties are handled:

A wins, B loses; B wins, A loses; the solution is postponed because neither A nor B feels ready to end the conflict; a confused compromise is reached, which neither A nor B are happy with.

Galtung tries to break with these four unsatisfactory ways of handling a conflict by finding a "fifth way", where both A and B feel that they win. The method also insists that basic human needs – such as survival, physical well-being, liberty, and identity – be respected.[citation needed] Major ideas

Galtung first conceptualized peacebuilding by calling for systems that would create sustainable peace. The peacebuilding structures needed to address the root causes of conflict and support local capacity for peace management and conflict resolution.[15]

Galtung has held several significant positions in international research councils and has been an advisor to several international organisations. Since 2004 he has been a member of the Advisory Council of the Committee for a Democratic UN.

He has also written many empirical and theoretical articles, dealing most frequently with issues of peace and conflict research. His work is distinguished by his unique perspective as well as the importance he attributes to innovation and interdisciplinarity.

He is one of the authors of an influential account of news values which are the factors which determine what coverage is given to what stories in the news. Galtung also originated the concept of Peace Journalism, which is increasingly influential in communications and media studies.

Galtung is strongly associated with the following concepts:

Structural violence - widely defined as the systematic ways in which a regime prevents individuals from achieving their full potential. Institutionalized racism and sexism are examples of this. Negative vs. Positive Peace - introduced the concept that peace may be more than just the absence of overt violent conflict (negative peace), and will likely include a range of relationships up to a state where nations (or any groupings in conflict) might have collaborative and supportive relationships (positive peace).

He has also distinguished himself in public debates concerning, among other things, less-developed countries, defence issues, and the Norwegian EU debate. In 1987 he was given the Right Livelihood Award. He developed the TRANSCEND Method described above. Economist and fellow peace researcher Kenneth Boulding has said of Galtung that his "output is so large and so varied that it is hard to believe that it comes from a human".[16] The US as a republic and empire

For Johan Galtung, the US is simultaneously a republic and an empire, a distinction he believes is highly relevant. The US is on one hand loved for its republican qualities, and on the other loathed by its enemies abroad for its perceived military aggressions. Its republican qualities include its work ethic and dynamism, productivity and creativity, the idea of freedom, or liberty, and a pioneering spirit. On the other hand, its military and political manipulation are censured for their aggressiveness, arrogance, violence, hypocrisy and self-righteousness, as well as the US public ignorance of other cultures and extreme materialism.[17]

In 1973, Galtung criticised the "structural fascism" of the US and other Western countries that make war to secure materials and markets, stating: "Such an economic system is called capitalism, and when it's spread in this way to other countries it's called imperialism", and has praised Fidel Castro for "break[ing] free of imperialism's iron grip". Galtung has stated that the US is a "killer country" guilty of "neo-fascist state terrorism" and compared the US to Nazi Germany for bombing Kosovo during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.[18][19]

According to Galtung, the US empire causes "unbearable suffering and resentment" because the "exploiters/ killers/ dominators/ alienators, and those who support the US Empire because of perceived benefits" are engaging in "unequal, non-sustainable, exchange patterns". In an article published in 2004, Galtung predicted that the US empire will "decline and fall" by 2020. He expanded on this hypothesis in his 2009 book titled The Fall of the US Empire - and Then What? Successors, Regionalization or Globalization? US Fascism or US Blossoming?.[20][21]

However, the decline of the US empire did not imply a decline of the US republic, and the "relief from the burden of Empire control and maintenance...could lead to a blossoming of the US Republic". Elaborating on the radio and television program Democracy Now, he stated that he loved the American republic and hated the American empire. He added that many Americans had thanked him for this statement on his lecture tours, because it helped them resolve the conflict between their love for their country and their displeasure with its foreign policy.[22] Predictions

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Galtung has made several predictions of when the USA will no longer be a superpower, a stance that has attracted some controversy. In an article published in 2004, he lists 14 'contradictions' that would cause the 'decline and fall' of the US empire.[21] After the beginning of the Iraq War, he revised his prediction of the "downfall of the US-Empire", seeing it as more imminent.[23] He claims the US will go through a phase as a fascist dictatorship on its path down, and that the Patriot Act is a symptom of this. He claims the election of George W. Bush cost the US empire five years – although he admits that this estimate was set a bit arbitrarily. He now sets the date for the end of the American Empire at 2020, but not the American Republic. Like Great Britain, Russia and France, he says the American Republic will be better off without the Empire.

Galtung has made predictions which have failed to materialize. For example, City Journal claims that in 1953, Galtung predicted that the Soviet Union's economy would soon overtake the West.[24] Reception Criticism

During the course of his career, some of Galtung statements and views have drawn criticism. A 2007 article by Bruce Bawer published in City Journal magazine and a subsequent article in February 2009 by Barbara Kay in the National Post criticised some of Galtung's statements. Both authors criticized Galtung's opinion that while Communist China was "repressive in a certain liberal sense", Mao Zedong was "endlessly liberating when seen from many other perspectives that liberal theory has never understood" because China showed that "the whole theory about what an 'open society' is must be rewritten, probably also the theory of 'democracy'—and it will take a long time before the West will be willing to view China as a master teacher in such subjects." The authors also criticized Galtung's opposition to Hungarian resistance against the Soviet invasion in 1956 and his description in 1974 of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov as "persecuted elite personages".[18][19] Both of the aforementioned articles alleged that he has suggested that the annihilation of Washington, D.C., would be a fair punishment for America's arrogant view of itself as "a model for everyone else". Bawer additionally argued that Galtung was best described as "lifelong enemy of freedom." However, neither of these two authors has been able to produce any source to back the claims they impute to Galtung who is on record for calling the September 11 attacks "criminal political violence".[25]

In April 2012, some Norwegian commentators accused Galtung of antisemitism after he published a column in the online magazine Humanist. Galtung denied the allegations.[26][27] The Israeli newspaper Haaretz made similar accusations against Galtung in May 2012 for: (1) suggesting the possibility of a link between the 2011 Norway attacks and Israel's intelligence agency Mossad; (2) maintaining that "six Jewish companies" largely control the US media; (3)identifying what he contends are ironic similarities between the practice of debt bondage as practised by China and Japan towards the U.S economy, by Germany and European Union towards Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Ireland and by the Worldbank and the International Monetary Fund towards Africa and the conspiratorial procedures described in the antisemitic forgery Elders of Zion which he has ostensibly qualified as hate-literature from the start[28]; and (4) theorizing that although not justified, anti-Semitism in post–World War I Germany was a predictable consequence of German Jews holding influential positions.[29] As a result of such statements, in May 2012 TRANSCEND International, an organisation co-founded by Galtung, released a statement to clarify his opinions.[30] In fact the original exchange between the journalist Ofer Adaret and Prof. Johan Galtung has been made available online[31] and shows that Ofer Adaret manipulated and twisted Prof. Galtung's statements by adding quotation marks and emphasis to words which Galtung never sent to him and by omitting essential qualifiers such as "hate-literature" which Galtung expressedly used in the original exchange.

"5. To criticize Israel's current foreign policy is not anti-Semitic, but a part of democratic debate. Johan Galtung, like many others, is the proponent of a prosperous and peaceful Israel, in peace with all its neighbors. He has a concrete proposal, first time made public in 1971: A Middle East Community of Israel with its five Arab neighbors, modeled after the European Community of the Treaty of Rome, which went into effect in 1958. This very proposal was published by Akiva Eldar in Ha'aretz in 2007 under the title "Ingredients for a True Peace Process."[32]

On August 8, 2012, the World Peace Academy in Basel, Switzerland announced it was suspending Galtung from its organization, citing what it posited were his "reckless and offensive statements to questions that are specifically sensitive for Jews."[33] This disingenious quote often found in the media echoes an accusation initially put forward by norwegian occultist and journalist John Faerseth [34]. As can be read in the official statement by the World Peace Academy (WPA), the above quote is lifted out of context and entirely undermines the unequivocal position of the founders of the World Peace Academy. The WPA statement [35] reads:

"Since the beginning we do not agree with the accusation of Johan Galtung being anti-semite (sic!). We have made this point very clear in the various official statements issued since this debate started. We know him and are fully aware that he has since decades argued for Israel's right to exist as a state with Jewish characteristics. We respect that Galtung has the courage to address “hot topics” which others try to avoid. However we regret that in the case of the latest reproaches he did not manage to find words and ways to make his message understandable to those people whom he is actually concerned about without simultaneously offending and frightening them." —Catherine Brunner, Founder of the World Peace Academy, Official Statement released August 31st. 2012

Selected works

Galtung has published more than a thousand articles and over a hundred books.[36][non-primary source needed]

Statistisk hypotesepröving (Statistical hypothesis testing, 1953) Gandhis politiske etikk (Gandhi's political ethics, 1955, with philosopher Arne Næss) Theory and Methods of Social Research (1967) Members of Two Worlds (1971) Fred, vold og imperialisme (Peace, violence and imperialism, 1974) Peace: Research – Education – Action (1975) Europe in the Making (1989) Global Glasnost: Toward a New World Information and Communication Order? (1992, with Richard C. Vincent) Peace By Peaceful Means: Peace and Conflict, Development and Civilization (1996) Johan uten land. På fredsveien gjennom verden (Johan without land. On the Peace Path Through the World, 2000, autobiography for which he won the Brage Prize) 50 Years: 100 Peace and Conflict Perspectives (2008) Democracy – Peace – Development (2008, with Paul D. Scott) 50 Years: 25 Intellectual Landscapes Explored (2008) Globalizing God: Religion, Spirituality and Peace (2008, with Graeme MacQueen)[37]

Selected awards and recognitions

Dr honoris causa, University of Tampere, 1975, peace studies Dr honoris causa, University of Cluj, 1976, future studies Dr honoris causa, Uppsala University, 1987, social sciences Dr honoris causa, Soka University, Tokyo, 1990, peace/buddhism Dr honoris causa, University of Osnabrück, 1995, peace studies Dr honoris causa, University of Torino, 1998, sociology of law Dr honoris causa, FernUniversität Hagen, 2000, philosophy Dr honoris causa, University of Alicante, 2002, sociology Dr honoris causa, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, 2006, law Honorary Professor, University of Alicante, Alicante, 1981 Honorary Professor, Free University of Berlin, 1984–1993 Honorary Professor, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 1986 Honorary Professor, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, 1993 Distinguished Professor of Peace Studies, University of Hawaii, 1993- John Perkins University Distinguished Visiting Professor, 2005- Right Livelihood Award, 1987 First recipient of the Humanist Prize of the Norwegian Humanist Association, 1988 Jamnalal Bajaj International Award for Promoting Gandhian Values, 1993[38] Brage Prize, 2000 First Morton Deutsch Conflict Resolution Award, 2001 Honorary Prize of the Norwegian Sociological Association, 2001 Premio Hidalgo, Madrid, 2005 Augsburg Golden Book of Peace, 2006 Member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Honorary member of the Green Party, 2009 Erik Bye Memorial Prize, 2011

References

^ John D. Brewer, Peace processes: a sociological approach, p. 7, Polity Press, 2010 ^ a b "Johan Galtung", Norsk Biografisk Leksikon ^ a b http://www.coe.int/T/d/Com/Dossiers/Events/2002-10-interkultureller-Dialog/CV_Galtung.asp ^ Genealogical data for Johan Galtung ^ a b Life of Johan Galtung (in Danish) ^ a b c PRIO biography for Johan Galtung ^ History of the IPRA ^ a b (E. Boulding 1982: 323) ^ Dagens Nyheter 2003-01-15. ^ Saybrook.edu ^ TRANSCEND biography on Johan Galtung ^ (K. Boulding 1977: 75) ^ "Gruppe 7: Samfunnsfag (herunder sosiologi, statsvitenskap og økonomi)" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Retrieved 26 October 2009. ^ Transcend.org ^ PEACEBUILDING & THE UNITED NATIONS Peacebuilding Support Office, United Nations ^ (K. Boulding 1977: 75) ^ Article by Dr Zeki Ergas "Out of Sync with the world: Some Thoughts on the Coming Decline and Fall of the American Empire". ^ a b The Peace Racket by Bruce Bawer, City Journal, Summer 2007. ^ a b Barbarians within the gate by Barbara Kay, National Post, February 18, 2009. ^ Prof. J. Galtung: 'US empire will fall by 2020' Russia Today, (posted on Youtube.   ^ a b On the Coming Decline and Fall of the US Empire by Johan Galtung, Transnational Foundation and Peace and Research (TFF), January 28, 2004.    ^ Galtung on Democracy Now, 2010    ^ Amerikas imperium går under innen 2020 Adressa September 23, 2004.    ^ Bawer, Bruce. 2007. "The Peace Racket". City Journal. Summer 2007..    ^ "September 11 2001: Diagnosis, Prognosis, Therapy" by Johan Galtung    ^ Galtung: Dette er en av grunnene til at jeg forlot Norge VG, 26 April, 2012 Template:Maria Mikkelsen    ^ Martin Herman Wiedswang Zondag: Dette er ganske vill lesing fra Galtung NRK, 24 April, 2012 (Norwegian)    ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLmDkOpiM3k    ^ Aderet, Ofer (30 April 2012). "Pioneer of global peace studies hints at link between Norway massacre and Mossad". Haaretz. Retrieved 7 September 2012. ^ "TRANSCEND International's Statement Concerning the Label of anti-Semitism Against Johan Galtung". TRANSCEND International. Retrieved 8 September 2012. ^ https://www.transcend.org/galtung/statement-may-2012/galtung_haaretz_comparison_v2.pdf ^ http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/ingredients-for-a-true-peace-process-1.229229 ^ Weinthal, Benjamin (August 9, 2012). "Swiss group suspends 'anti-Semitic' Norway scholar". Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on August 11, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2012. ^ http://en.xiandos.info/John_Faerseth ^ "World Peace Academy Public Statement Disseminated on August 31st 2012 signed Catherine Brunner founder of the World Peace Academy". ^ TRANSCEND biography on Johan Galtung ^ "Johan Galtung's Publications 1948-2010". Retrieved 8 September 2012. ^ "Jamnalal Bajaj Awards Archive". Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation.

Sources

Bawer, Bruce. 2007. "The Peace Racket". City Journal. Summer 2007. Link. Boulding, Elise. 1982. "Review: Social Science—For What?: Festschrift for Johan Galtung." Contemporary Sociology. 11(3):323-324. JSTOR Stable URL Boulding, Kenneth E. 1977. "Twelve Friendly Quarrels with Johan Galtung." Journal of Peace Research. 14(1):75-86. JSTOR Stable URL

External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Johan Galtung

TRANSCEND: A Peace Development Environment Network Galtung-Institute for Peace Theory and Peace Practice Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) Biography on Right Livelihood Award