Does peace research need knowledge on social policy?

Abstract

Peace Research and Social Policy are linked both conceptually and causally. Concepts such as structural violence and positive peace connect elements of the two disciplines, as Social Policy, by definition, focuses on how societies across the world meet human needs for security, education, work, health, and well-being – i.e., elements of a structurally nonviolent condition. The causal analysis of intrastate conflict, in particular, further links the foci of Peace Studies and Social Policy, as many of the grievances addressed by social policies tend to lead to conflict. Globally, horizontal inequalities are causally associated with conflict, while in the MENA region, conflicts are strongly linked to corrupt state factionalism – a condition in which the state becomes an instrument of only some subnational groups, while corrupt practices marginalize others. This forum article focuses on the conceptual and empirical linkages between Social Policy and Peace Research, demonstrates why these fields of research need each other, and reveals temporal variation in the extent to which findings from Social Policy have been mobilized in the study of peace and conflict.