From Structural Violence to “Slow Violence”: Toward Renovation of Spatiotemporal Recognition for the Coming Planetary Peace Studies

抄録

This article aims to suggest the usage of a framework of “slow violence” as an analytical perspective rather than structural violence (SV). In doing so, the article presents two problems of Galtungʼs peace theory: 1) the concept of SV could sometimes be too abstract to visualize what“non-peaceful states”would be, and 2) his analyses have historically been predominantly centered on human affairs. This article focuses on why Peace Studies have been unable to sufficiently tackle those problems as an urgent concern. The consequence of this neglect has been presentday mankindʼs escalating violence against other living beings and the earth itself. Avoiding this pitfall, it discusses in Sections One, Two, and Three how the concept of slow violence is more appropriate than SV when an issue like the relationship between humans and non-humans is at stake. Here, the factors that SV has failed to grasp are highlighted. Section Four introduces the background argument of slow violence centered on the coming “Planetary Peace Studies” from a perspective of the Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). Section Five presents two examples that serve to deepen our understanding of slow violence: the cases of acquisition and exploitation of fossil fuels in Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. Sections Six and Seven describe the spatiotemporal characteristics of slow violence, and draw attention to three key moves that can prevent various forms of slow violence from escalating: on-shoring, scientific research on critical zones, and the vertical pure gift. In conclusion, the article suggests that renovating the idea of traditional spatiotemporal recognition is necessary to elevate Peace Studies to Planetary Peace Studies.