Approaches to Peace: A Reader in Peace Studies

by David Philip Barash

Book Overview

"For those endeavoring to approach peace, there is no shortage of challenges, practical as well as intellectual. Fortunately, there is also no shortage of inspiration and insight."--From the preface

Approaches to Peace: A Reader in Peace Studies, Second Edition, provides a unique and interdisciplinary sampling of key articles and short literary selections focusing on the diverse facets of peace and conflict studies. Featuring both classic...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195382862
• ISBN13: 9780195382860
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 9.1" x 7.4"

Customer Reviews

One of the best, but still falls a bit short

I've used David Barash's _Approaches to Peace_ several times in my college classes on peace and justice. This is unusual in itself, because I rarely use anthologies, preferring instead to go straight to the original sources themselves. I like Barash's approach, though, because it tries to be inclusive as possible. The anthology begins by looking at the definitions and possible causes of war, moves on to analyses of how to prevent war (negative peace), then to considerations of how to create structures of justice that eliminate the necessary conditions for war (positive peace). The rest of the book is devoted to readings that discuss nonviolence, religious pacifism, and historical peace movements. All of these general categories are exactly what one would want in a "peace studies" text.The problem is that the readings included in each category aren't always the best (or at least aren't the ones I would've selected). The single best two sets of readings are in the chapters on positive peace and nonviolence. The single worst (and I do mean *worst*!) set of readings are when Barash deals with religious pacifism (it's as if he feels uncomfortable in this arena). In the section on peace movements, Vaclav Havel's essay is the single best piece, but one wonders why it (and perhaps the entire chapter) doesn't serve as the prologue to the anthology.Still, no anthology perfectly pleases everyone. Barash's is the best one out there I've discovered. Perhaps some changes will be made in a second edition. Regardless, I highly recommend this book.