AFTER VIOLENCE: 3R, RECONSTRUCTION, RECONCILIATION ...

[3] These six spaces can be summarized into three:
Direct violence/peace: to nature and human body-mind-spirit
Structural violence/peace: in social and world spaces, as
- vertical structural violence: repression and exploitation,
- horizontal structural violence: parties too close/too remote
- structural peace: freedom and equity, adequate distance
Cultural violence/peace: legitimizing/delegitimizing violence
[4] Time enters as a medium in which this all unfolds. But
whereas direct violence is usually seen as a process with kairos
points, structural and cultural violence, and peace, are more like
step functions at those kairos points. There is an event that
brings about a lower or higher level, after which the level is
more permanent. As the permanent is difficult to see (there is no
contrast), and the event is difficult to catch (it is too sudden),
both phenomena easily pass unregistered. Violence is more easy to
understand and conveniently confused with conflict.
How would we now depict a conflict process? There is no
denial that the violent aspect of conflict is a function of time
like an organism with birth, maturity and death, even if multi-
peaked rather than single-peaked violence processes may be more
realistic (as for diseases). But there are three problems:
This represents violence as a variable and the absence of
violence as a point, as zero violence, as "cease-fire". But peace
should also be seen as a variable, in terms of more peace or less
peace, reflected among other places in the level of positive,
cooperative interaction and the level of friendship.
Only one type of violence is included: direct violence; not
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