The dominant definition of ‘peace’, which is largely western in origin, revolves around minimalist and narrow understandings of ‘security’ and ‘conflict management’ wherein ‘peace’ is reduced to merely an absence of war. In recent years, a significant corpus of scholarly work has emerged which challenges these received notions. Adopting a much broader approach, these studies seek to link peace with issues of justice, dignity, dialogue, and reconciliation. They emphasize the need to take account of the historical, political, and civilizational specificities of nations and peoples in understanding both peace and conflict. South Asian Peace Studies, an exciting new series has been conceived to showcase significant writings on peace studies from and about the region. The emphasis will be on essays which demonstrate the importance of changing direction in various frameworks–from conflict management to peace, from national security to human security, from revenge to reconciliation, and from rights to justice. This, the inaugural volume in the series, introduces the concept, scope, and main concerns of peace studies. The 19 essays are grouped in three broad sections. The first discusses definitions of peace studies and its main themes. The second section looks at recent cases of conflict in the region while the third considers new paths to conflict resolution based on dialogue and justice. Providing a new approach to understanding peace and conflict resolution in a comparative perspective, this volume will attract the attention of students and scholars of international relations, human rights, politics, and peace and security studies.
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