engleski

On relevance of the peace culture concept in the study of ethnic relations on local levels

Long-lasting peace is local rather than national or international phenomenon. Nevertheless, most influential analytical concepts of peace – liberal/democratic peace and peace culture – are designed in the fashion of methodological nationalism. Thus, the concept of peace culture is said ‘empirically inconsistent’ (De Rivera), since it is conditional on the existence of a global culture of peace. It is similar with the liberal peace concept, since liberalism is limited to most developed countries and contains some behavioral elements that are unfavorable to peace, such as competition and exclusion instead of solidarity (with the weak), and using of arms in some major international crises. The insularity of long-lasting peace has far-reaching implications, which are tackled in the first part of the paper. In the second part, cases of peace enclaves in some multiethnic (Croat-Serb) areas in Croatia in the first half of 1990s will be compared with similar places in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and India. In building up an explanatory framework, some elements of the analytical concept of peace culture must be applied as well. These are: gender equality, in particular women’s participation in politics, and sympathy for the weak. Some empirical findings from research in Croatia will corroborate the significance of these elements. Furthermore, the issue of the (in)consistency of the peace culture concept will be discussed in view of the fact that, according to peace culture research on national samples, just a few Western societies belong to the advanced “peace cultures”, whereas others, like for example USA, Britain or France, do not. In parallel, research in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and India shows that durable peace exists only in some multiethnic (local) communities. Arguably, the lack of some crucial elements of peace culture, such as sympathy for the weak and non-usage of arms in crisis situations, may be responsible for conflict-proneness in both international and local levels. In conclusion, two dominant systems of cultural masculinity (Hofstede) in the globe, i.e. the techno-economic and the ethno-religious masculinity, are unraveled as the major obstacles to the expansion of a peace culture.

Long-lasting Peace; Liberal/Democratic Peace; Peace Culture; Ethnic Relations

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