June 14, 2010
Benchmarks of a Culture of Peace
So far, we have demonstrated the falsity of some of the major theories by which human beings are selfish and violent, and conflict the sine qua non of any society. We have also gone into some detail regarding the cultural nature of these characteristics, which makes them optional along with other more mutualistic features such as generosity, empathy and mutual support. Once this point has been reached in our analysis, people often ask, “If such a culture of cooperation and peace is possible, it must already exist somewhere. Where has a society with those characteristics ever been seen?”
In order to answer this question, we need to identify benchmarks or “referents”, concrete cases that can be subjected to empirical research. To serve as a benchmarks or referent, a society does not need to be perfect, with no conflictive or selfish aspects. It must only demonstrate a different model of life, and provide lessons that can be replicated and serve as inspiration to act and hope for the future. Accordingly, below is a summary of some of the major benchmarks or referents of an alternative culture.
Pre-industrial societies: Anthropologists have described numerous indigenous cultures that evince significant elements of mutualism. They include the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic, the Mbuti of the rain forests of Zaire in Central Africa, the Zuni in the deserts of Southeastern United States, the Arapesh of the New Guinea mountains, and the Lepcha in the mountain villages of Nepal, to name but a few. The peaceful attitudes of these communities are not due to a different essence or genetic makeup that differentiates them from the rest of humanity, but to generations of conscious decisions and daily efforts to nurture a harmonious way of life.[1]
Industrialized nations: Here, too, are found benchmarks and referents that teach valuable lessons regarding the process of organizing and developing a different kind of society. For example, Norway is a country whose culture of peace has attracted much attention recently. Several modern nations of Asia have millenary cultures that have long been acknowledged and studied for their extraordinary levels of harmony and synergy. They are also the result of joint decisions to achieve a peaceful society, express it in tangible forms and practices, and pass on both this conviction and its outer expressions from early childhood.
Intentional communities: These are often deliberate attempts to create a different kind of society. They are a living proof of that possibility and a source of learning about how to build a culture of peace. For example, members of peace communities such as the Brüderhof withdraw from the rest of society and practice voluntary poverty, hold no private property, and use any surplus income for humanitarian purposes. The worldwide Bahá'í community, although not living in communes, is known for its unity of purpose, thought and action in service to humanity. In both cases, their culture of peace is not an inherited trait, but is a fruit of mindful determination and everyday sacrifices to build a more humane, peaceful society.
Alternative institutions: Alternative institutions seek to transform certain social structures in response to the inefficacy of official institutions, with which they coexist while seeking to replace them. Therefore, they are usually not promoted by States, but by civil society and non-governmental organizations, often in the form of political and economic “laboratories” or sociocultural “experiments”. They may be part of larger social movements that seek to correct some of the disruptions caused by the culture of selfishness and violence.
Parallel subcultures: This is another important source of often-invisible benchmarks and referents that coexist alongside, below the surface, or sometimes against the current of the predominant culture. A classical example of this is the so-called ‘private sphere’, traditionally managed by women, which is characterized by cooperation, conciliation, preservation, kindness, and compassion. It coexists with the ‘public sphere’, conventionally dominated by men, with its patterns of competition, conflict, conquest, aggression, and insensitiveness. The public sphere tends to be the most visible and outspoken, but it is the private sphere that has enabled humankind to survive the damage it has caused.
Outstanding heroes: Heroes are people who transcend the limits imposed by custom and inertia, who show us what we are capable of becoming. They may be moral leaders, whose reputation has made them emblems of human virtue and achievement, such as Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela. They show us the heights that human beings can reach. However, often people do not identify with them enough to follow their examples, but place them in a separate category, as almost super-human.
Everyday Anonymous Heroes: Of greater importance perhaps is the mass phenomenon –ubiquitous but practically invisible– of everyday anonymous heroes. These are people who are around us on a daily basis, who we sometimes take for granted, but who provide tangible, unavoidable models of selflessness and kindness: fathers, mothers, teachers, brothers, mentors, and friends. Few acknowledge their ceaseless labors of love, both large and small, but they are the immense majority of the population, who keep this world from being completely torn apart by the adversarialism and voracity of the vociferous minority.
These few examples suffice to show that we are surrounded by diverse cultures of cooperation and peace which, while plentiful and pervasive, are largely obscured by the dominant culture of selfishness and violence. In fact, it is because of these elements of mutualism that humanity has been able to preserve its cohesion and vitality. They offer a rich reserve of non-adversarial strategies and resources for sociocultural change. Finally, they offer indisputable proof of the possibility of a different world, as per the famous truism of the renowned social scientist and peace activist Kenneth Boulding: “Whatever exists is possible.”
Notes:
1. For further information, there is an excellent bibliography of books and articles on peaceful societies at http://www.peacefulsocieties.org.
For further information on this and other topics by the same author, please click here.
Labels:
Culture of Peace,
Human Nature
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