A Green Peace. How Implementing a Peace Ecology Paradigm in Post-Conflict Situations can create an Atmosphere where Positive Peace may Blossom

Abstract

Positive peace has not yet been achieved worldwide. The closest version of ‘peace’ one can see is a negative sort that is full of different forms of violence. If we want to see positive peace, structural ecological violence must be addressed. This thesis takes the premise that the natural environment is the missing key to peace. I argue that taking an environmental perspective to current peace practices is a crucial step towards realizing peace. A healthy environment has been acknowledged as being a necessary component to peace, yet it is often overlooked in the empirical side of Peace Studies. There is little empirical ‘evidence’ accepted in the peace field or international community to demonstrate the benefits of environmental peacebuilding. The environmental policy paradigm – which I argue is the current international order – is flawed in ways that prevent the complete consideration of the environment, let alone its consideration as an actor for peace. Environmental peacebuilding represents a shift in thinking about how the environment relates to the peace and conflict field because instead of relating the environment to conflict as it has traditionally been, it is now being related to peace. Representative of this step forward, this thesis asks how the can environment be an actor for peace. In order to consider the environment as an ‘actor’ rather than a ‘concept,’ I take an ecocentric approach and work under the peace ecology paradigm. To show the application of this philosophy, I examine post-Genocide Rwanda as an instrumental case study followed by deductive thematic analysis of the data as per the main principles of peace ecology (interconnectedness, bioregionalism, place, and sustainability). This research brings to light the agency of the environment in current peace practices as well as calls for further respect of the environment as an actor for peace.