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1. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 2
Erin Feldman Table Mountain
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2. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 2
Andrew Blom Democracy, Peace and the War System: The Democratic Peace Project
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The idea that peace prevails in the relations among liberal democratic states, given its first expression in Kant’s essay “Toward Perpetual Peace,” has gathered a great deal of attention in the post-Cold War period as both a testable hypothesis and a proposal for expanding peace through democratization. This article examines the explanations for how a democratic peace is achieved and sustained. It argues that, despite tendencies within democratic state relations toward peaceful conflict resolution, such a peace is destabilized by continued adherence to a set of assumptions and practices which we might call, following Jane Addams and John Dewey, ‘the war system.’ In the context of the ideological and institutional supports of militarism, democratic states remain subject to the dynamics of conflict escalation that produce occasions for war. This war system is the undoing of the democratic peace.
3. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 2
Matthew T. Nowachek Challenging the Violence of Retributivism: Kierkegaard, Works of Love, and the Dialectic of Edification
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This essay begins with a brief critical outline of the retributivist view of interpersonal justice, specifically focusing on the tendency of retributivism to leave victims with neither healing nor closure, but rather with a negative emotional remainder. It is argued that this phenomenon is indicative in part of a certain form of violence, what I identify as the perpetual retribution that extends from fixation of the identity of the offender as offender. In response to this issue, I draw on the categories developed by Søren Kierkegaard in his Works of Love. More specifically, Kierkegaard’s reflection “Love Hides a Multitude of Sins” serves as a powerful critique of the retributivist position, and the reflection “The Victory of the Conciliatory Spirit in Love” provides an insightful account of the requirements of interpersonal justice if it is to avoid violence. In the end, it is argued that Kierkegaard’s account of love and edification represents a promising alternative to retributivism.
4. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 2
Danielle Poe Asking to be Welcomed: Luce Irigaray and the Practice of Receiving Hospitalityn
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Recently, Irigaray scholars have paid attention to the notion of hospitality in Irigaray’s work. Judith Still, who has traced this idea through the work of Levinas and Derrida as well, emphasizes that while most scholars use a notion of identity and sameness to frame the conditions for hospitality, Irigaray grounds the conditions for hospitality in respect for sexuate difference. I agree with Still’s analysis of the importance of preserving space, difference, and autonomy in our notions of hospitality, but I want to develop these notions further by thinking through the implications of what I ought to do when I am seeking hospitality rather than offering hospitality. This work is both academic and practical. Academically, I want to contribute to scholarship on Irigaray’s concept of hospitality because she adds an emphasis on sexuate difference and possibilities for transformation that other philosophers fail to address. Yet, those who are writing about hospitality and Irigaray are not addressing the question of seeking welcome in contexts where my presence risks perpetuating oppression. Practically, I want to prepare myself for an upcoming research trip to Brazil where I will meet with people who are victims of human trafficking. The purpose of the trip is to learn from the people who are exploited what research and actions, U.S. students and faculty can offer in support of them since we are already in relationship with them. In this paper, I will use Luce Irigaray’s work on hospitality that emphasizes dialogue/silence as well as space and difference to think about how those of us who have unconsciously benefitted from human trafficking have an obligation to make ourselves worthy of hospitality instead of reproducing relationships of subordination.
5. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 2
Roger Bergman Toward a Sociology of Conscience: The Example of Franz Jagerstatter and the Legacy of Gordon Zahn
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In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI beatified the Austrian peasant Franz Jägersttätter as a martyr for his refusal to serve in the Nazi military, over against the counsel of his wife, his pastor, and his bishop, which led to his court-martial and execution, in 1943. Recognition of Blessed Franz came to pass only because of the discovery of the Jägerstätter story by the American Catholic sociologist Gordon Zahn in the process of researching his classic account, German Catholics and Hitler’s Wars (1962). Jägersttätter was introduced to the world through Zahn’s second classic study, In Solitary Witness: The Life and Death of Franz Jägersttätter (1964, revised 1986). In these two books, Zahn has contributed substantially to a sociological understanding of conscience, which is otherwise lacking in many Catholic accounts of moral conscience. This essay will offer a narrative analysis of Jägerstätter’s life and writings and elaborate Zahn’s “sociotheology” of conscience.
6. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 2
Aili Bresnahan Censorship as Catalyst for Artistic Innovation
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One kind of government-supported censorship of the arts targets not the expressive content of any particular artwork but instead seeks to suppress the activity of a group of people based on some feature of the group’s human identity such as race, gender or class. Using examples from the history of the development of black music in the United States that followed from the legal oppression of slavery and from evidence of changes in the Punjabi theatre in Pakistan following state-sanctioned suppressions of women this paper demonstrates that human-identity-related arts censorship not only harms but can actually serve to spur and enhance, rather than suppress, artistic innovation.
7. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 2
Brion White Petra Kelly And Dorothy Day: Peace Activists Working Inside and Outside the Traditional Government Structure for Social Change
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This paper details how Petra Kelly and Dorothy Day looked at peace from inside and outside the government structure. The paper gives some background information about the two women and their lives. The paper then examines personalism, social movement theory and peace studies theory to establish a lens to look at the lives of each woman. The paper states how Kelly, while retaining her activist philosophy, worked within the government structure to establish new ways to involve peace in public policy. The paper also states how Day established an alternative community to fight for peace in an everyday existence devoid of government support. The paper finishes with some key ideas to develop further study about both Day, Kelly and peace activism.
8. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 2
Temitope Olaifa Out-of-Court Third Party Intervention in the Media: A Case Study
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Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods are becoming increasingly attractive and more people are opting for them in resolving disputes ranging from interpersonal to international conflicts. The impetus to shun violence of any form is gradually compelling people to look for options outside the judiciary. Litigation, considered as one of the Alternative Dispute Resolution options, is considered adversarial due to its lose-win, win-lose outcome which, rather than uproot the cause of conflict, exacerbates and entrenches it the more. One of the options open to parties in conflict is the electronic media third-party intervention where the public is given opportunity to be part of the resolution of conflicts. This paper looks at one of such cases handled on the program ‘Olowogbogboro’ on the Ogun State Television, Abeokuta, Nigeria. We analyze its process and outcome against the background of the law of inheritance in Yorubaland.
9. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 2
Abosede O. Babatunde Youth Militias and the Militarisaton of the Niger Delta: Interrogating Institutional Mechanisms
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The Nigeria’s Niger Delta region has been associated with oil-induced violence characterised by confrontations between the security forces and youth militias. It has been argued that the State’s approach to security is dominated by the character of deterrence at the slightest hint of insecurity. This has given rise to formation of armed ethnic militias that reject the authority and legitimacy of the government and operate outside the effective control of traditional governance institutions. This article, thus, examines the linkages between the militarisation of the Niger Delta and the emergence of youth militia. It also interrogates the state management of the intractable conflicts in the Niger Delta. Conclusively, any effort to arrest the perennial violent conflict in the Niger Delta would require a critical policy review. Providing viable employment opportunities for the youth, and channelling their energies into the development of sustained livelihoods can reduce the insecurity in the Niger Delta.
book reviews
10. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 2
Rebecca A. Chabot Ethics and Experience: Moral Theory from Just War to Abortion by Lloyd Steffen
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11. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 2
Daniel Cosacchi Faith, Resistance, and the Future: Daniel Berrigan’s Challenge to Catholic Social Thought. Edited by James L. Marsh, and Anna J. Brown
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12. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 2
Peter O’Connell Explorations in the Theology of Benedict XVI. John C. Cavadini, ed.
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13. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 2
Justin Pierce Conflict Analysis: Understanding Causes, Unlocking Solution by Matthew Levinger
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14. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 2
Luke Pigott The End of Prisons: Reflections from the Decarceration Movement. Edited by Mechthild E. Nagel and Anthony J. Nocella II
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15. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 2
Michael J. Santos Ignacio Ellacuria: Essays on History, Liberation and Salvation by Author and Editor Michael E. Lee
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16. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 2
Notes on Contributors
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17. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 1
Kathleen Bonnette The Bonds of Common Humanity and the Ethics of Killing in War
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This paper works through issues of moral psychology and Just War Theory to provide a framework for evaluating affective responses to killing in war. In lightof the second anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death, it seems especially appropriate to examine our responses to this event. Weaving together the Just War accounts of Augustine and Walzer, and a cognitive-constructivist theory of emotions presented by thinkers such as Martha Nussbaum and Charles Taylor, I have developed an account of the moral and practical importance of cultivating proper emotional responses to killing in war, based on what I call “humanistic intuitions” that stem from an innate sense of common morality. It is my contention that recognizing and maintaining these humanistic intuitions is not only morally right, but also is necessary for facilitating healing from the psychological trauma of war.
18. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 1
Jacques Koko A Theology of Mediation for Peacemaking in Africa
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Using hermeneutics, syllogistic reasoning, and critical thinking, this article examines social implications of Christ’s mediation for peacemaking in Africa. The main arguments and conclusions in the article rely on the author’s hermeneutics of Saint John’s gospel, John 14:6, and on the analysis of observations and open-ended interviews conducted from 1990 through 2010 in fifty Catholics parishes across twelve African countries on the role of the Church in African societies. The article addresses questions on the implications of Christ’s mediation for the Church, by articulating cross-arguments around two main points to demonstrate how Christ’s mediation requires that the Church engages more into peacemaking activities in conflict-affected countries in Africa. The first part of the article enhances Jesus’ way as an effective way of mediation for peacemaking. The second part develops some implications of Christ’s mediation for his followers with recommendations for the Church in war-torn societies in Africa.
19. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 1
Bassam Romaya, Lisa Portmess Confronting Cyber Warfare: Rethinking the Ethics of Cyber War
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The emergence of sophisticated cyber weapons such as Stuxnet and Flame, and widespread offensive cyber-operations revealed in documents leaked byEdward Snowden, pose challenges not only to international security and civilian infrastructure, but blur the distinction between violence and nonviolence, confusing the ethical discourse of cyber war and muting public discourse and resistance. Rethinking cyber war as destabilizing nonviolence reveals the moralambiguities and contested ontology of cyber weapons, heightens awareness of their conflicted linguistic representation and challenges the vantage point of “theresponsible actor” in justifying cyber war attacks. Such heightened awareness of the ontological and ethical complexity of cyber weapons makes room forreasoned public discourse and strategies of resistance to clandestine cyber war and to justified use arguments that defend cyber weapons as nonviolent.
20. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies: Volume > 23 > Issue: 1
James A. Yunker Inevitability versus Desirability: Recent Discussion of World Government in the International Relations Literature
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Although the current consensus judgment on world government is highly negative, Alexander Wendt’s 2003 article in the European Journal of International Relations, entitled “Why a World State Is Inevitable,” has generated significant interest within the international relations (IR) profession. However, it may be that debating the inevitability thesis represents a misallocation of intellectual resources. The important question is not whether world government is inevitable or not, but rather whether it is desirable or not. And the question of desirability depends critically on the nature of the proposed world government. Up to this point, most discussion of world government, pro and con, proceeds from the assumption that the world government would be the “omnipotent world state” of traditional world federalist thinking: a very powerful and centralized state entity that would stand in relation to its component nations much as the federal government of the United States stands in relation to the component states. But more recent contributions focus on a limited world government, in which the component nations would retain such rights as unilateral withdrawal and independent military forces. A far more interesting case may be made for a limited—as opposed to an unlimited—federal world government.