ASSIGNMENT
SUBMITTED TO: MS MARIA ILYAS
SUBMITTED BY: AYESHA MEHMOOD
IR221019
SUBJECT : PEACE STUDIES
TOPIC “CAN SUSTAINABLE PEACE EXISTS WITHOUT
JUSTICE?”
Peace and justice are closely interconnected and interlinked in peace studies
and also in conflict resolution. Sustainable peace means a long term
condition where people are able to solve their problems and conflicts through
dialogue, cooperation, dignity and respect, social harmony and equality with
equity is maintained, and justice is served by addressing the root cause of
the conflicts. On the other hand justice means fairness, accountability ,
protection of human rights and equal distribution of resources and
opportunities in society. Without the presence of peace and justice both the
grievances, the root causes remained unresolved and makes the future weak
and unstable. This is why sustainable peace requires the presence of long
term peace and justice rather than merely the absence of war .
Absence of violence may create temporary peace or a state of calm but can
not result in lasting peace. One important concept of peace that supports
this argument is concept of positive peace developed by Johan galtung a
peace scholar who has distinguished between positive peace and negative
peace. According to him negative peace refers to the absence of violence or
any armed conflict. On the other hand positive peace refers to the
elimination of structural violence, tacking and analyzing the root causes of
conflicts, maintaining social justice and equality in society, and removing
discrimination and injustice. Peace is merely not the absence of visible
violence in society but rather it is the presence of justice , equality , harmony
, fraternity and basically the focus is on human well being . If there is
discrimination or a disbalance in society in the form of poverty, injustice,
trauma, exclusions, inequality, or oppression , than there is a very high
possibility of future conflicts or violence. Thus positive peace concept
highlights that justice is crucial to achieve sustainable peace.
A relevant peace theory that emphasizes the importance of justice is liberal
peace theory , which argues that peace is more likely to prevail in societies
where there is a strong presence of democratic institutions , rule of law and
order, human rights and accountable democratic government. The theorists
of this theory believe that if the justice is served it will create trust between
government and the citizens which will reduce the likelihood of violence,
dissatisfaction, uprisings and will prevent conflicts ultimately. If the individual
feel that there rights are secure and respected and justice is served through
legal institutions, they will willingly submit to government and laws in order
to get the safety as a citizen and will be ready to solve conflicts through
peace. Thus this liberal peace theory also suggests that sustainable peace
can not exist without the presence of justice .
The post apartheid transition in south Africa is the real life example showing
the direct relationship between peace and justice. Under this system the
black people were treated unfairly and they faced lots of discrimination and
moreover they were politically excluded. The end of an apartheid system
also ended the conflict but achieving true peace requires addressing the past
grievances. For this reason the truth and reconciliation commission under
Nelson Mandela and tutu Desmond was established, which focused on
learning and identifying the human rights abuses there, promotion of
accountability and restoring the reconciliation process. Despite of challenges,
this process demonstrates that acknowledging injustices and addressing root
grievances is necessary to achieve and restore sustainable peace.
However some scholars argue that peace can exist temporarily without
justice. For example authoritarian government or military rule may suppress
conflicts through military force. This will only create a short term peace as it
fails to address the real causes of conflicts so there are chances that the
conflict will re emerge.
In conclusion sustainable peace can not exist without justice and if it do so it
will only be temporary as history has seen that societies built on injustices
and grievances often see recurring cycles of violence and conflict. Therefore
justice is not merely a component of peace but rather it is one of it’s
foundations and share a direct relationship.