Centre for Peace Studies at the University of Tromsø hereby presents Working Papers No 8.

From September 7 -9 , 2005, the Centre for Peace Studies (CPS) at the University of Tromsø hosted a research conference entitled: “New Directions in Peace and Conflict Research. Non-violent Strategies for Confronting Global Terrorism and for Promoting Peaceful Social Change”.

The conference theme was the nature and political potential of non-violence. The Centre for Peace Studies at the University of Tromsø considers this issue a central concern in its activities and an important matter in Peace Studies generally. The conference aimed to explore the possibilities of non-violence in the context of two key contemporary themes of global conflict: 1) Terrorism and its variety of responses and 2) Social resistance and political activism.

The principal aims of the conference were to illuminate the research dimensions of these specific themes and more generally to examine the character and purpose of Peace Studies both as multidisciplinary and as a catalyst for non-violent social change.

This series of CPS Working Papers summarises most of the contributions presented during the conference. The CPS is grateful to the authors in allowing us to publish this collection of essays that touch upon fundamental contemporary issues in the field of Peace and Conflict Studies. The CPS also expresses its special thanks to the conference organiser Line N. Sandanger.

Tromsø, November 2005.

Editor:
Alberto Valiente Thoresen
Executive Officer
Centre for Peace Studies
e-mail : albtho@sv.uit.no

Address:
Centre for Peace Studies,
University of Tromsø,
N-9037, Norway.
http://uit.no/cps





CPS Working Papers:

No 1 Three articles by Johan Galtung:
What is Peace Studies?
The Epistemology and Methodology of Peace Studies. Constructing a Daoist Social Science Epistemology

No 2 Arne Kommisrud:
State-building, Nationalities, and Conflict Dynamics in the Soviet and Habsburg Empires. A Rokkanian Approach.

No 3 Johan Galtung:
Toward Peaceful Worlds - A Guide to Peace

No 4 Stein Tønneson:
A ‘Global Civil War’

No 5 Bjørg Berg:
Paying for Peace: Is it a Human Right?

No 6 Sri Lanka 2003

No 7 Christine Schweitzer:
Nonviolent Intervention

No 8 Conference Papers. “New Directions in Peace and Conflict Research. Non-violent Strategies for Confronting Global Terrorism and for Promoting
Peaceful Social Change”. September 7th-9th, 2005. University of Tromsø.