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

the underlying structural and cultural violence.
Third, and this is more psychological than logical: up and
down have evaluative connotations, so why not have peace on the
positive side of the Y-axis, and violence on the negative? With
three types of violence/peace this means three Y-axes.
Thus, a more adequate conflict analysis would start with a
social formation, and then assess the levels of structural and
cultural violence/peace. If positive and high, don't worry. But
if both are low we have an early, very early, warning. Both have
considerable inertia, being permanent for long intervals of time,
like the level of repression/exploitation of indigenous people
combined with Western/Christian contempt for primitives-pagans,
and machismo interpreting direct violence as catharsis.
Structural, like direct, violence is relational, not only
relative. Not only "Y was killed by a bullet, X was not", but "Y
was killed by a bullet fired by X". Not only inequality, but
inequity: not "Y is low on well-being and human rights" and "X is
high on both", but "X is high on both, because Y is low"./9/
Structural and cultural peace correspond not only to immunity
in disease analysis, but to level of health in general. This
resistance may not only be disturbingly low but negative, meaning
there is structural and cultural violence operating; a basis for
early action instead of waiting for the exposure.
The exposure, like the shot in Sarajevo,/10/ is often seen as
an event although the famous drop that leads to an overflow may be
a better image. A final provocation, an additional act, with
repression, misery/hunger and alienation at an intolerable level.
The violence may be expressive of despair and frustration rather
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