1a. Introduction to the Course

Welcome to this course on the history of peace movements!

Before we go any further, and to put you in the mood of both reading, watching, writing, and reflecting, listen to one of the most famous peace songs of the modern era – John Lennon’s Imagine.

Perhaps it is ironic to begin a course on peace movements in history with a song that is about the future – imagining “all the people living life in peace.” But such a dream and aspiration is the fundamental motive behind all peace movements, past and present.

johnlennon. (2012, December 20). Imagine - John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band (w The Flux Fiddlers) (Ultimate Mix 2018) - 4K REMASTER. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOgFZfRVaww

Music, visual art, and literature are features of most peace movements. While we don’t have a module focused on peace and art, we will begin each module with a song.

Perhaps we should first ask: Why study peace movements and peace history? There are many university and college courses that focus on war and conflict in history, but very few that focus on peace. So, at a basic level, it is worth studying peace movements just to balance our understanding of the past. For every violent conflict there were individuals and movements calling for peace and engaging in action that sought to bring an end to that conflict. These examples are often hidden in history. But they can be as exciting to learn about as war.

Throughout the course, I encourage you to have a look at The Year in Peace and Justice History, a website that provides brief summaries of peace thought and action in history for each day of the year. On any given day you can discover what happened in peace history. It tends to be somewhat United States-focused. Nevertheless, it is fascinating to look at this and find events and people that are very familiar and others that are very obscure. You might even find historic items that correspond topically or thematically to the module that you are in the midst of.

Another good reason to study peace movements is that, arguably, they have grown in number and impact throughout the 20th century and to the present. This is true around the world, and also in Canada, as your short reading about peace movements in Canada reveals. The growth of peace movements is accompanied by an increase in peace-related organizations as well as peace education and research initiatives.

Here are some reasons for the growth of peace advocacy and action:

Before the mid-19th century pacifism was primarily rooted in sectarian or religious organizations, as opposed to something embraced by society more broadly.
Until perhaps the mid-19th century, war or violent conflict wasn’t considered a particular problem by most citizens; it was taken for granted that this was the way states did their business.
The nuclear age that emerged in the 1950s made peace/pacifism more popular, as knowledge grew about the potential for global destruction.
Peace movements grew alongside awareness of the increasing number of civilians killed in war even while military deaths declined.
The spread of democracy, as well as citizen involvement and responsibility in the political order, has contributed to an increase in peace movements.
A greater understanding of human rights, and related international laws, provided impetus to peace movements that speak to human rights and persecution.

It is also useful to understand peace movements of the past as a means to influence the present. As we will see in this course, many of the ideas and actions that characterized peace movements in history continue to inspire peace movements of the present. Innovation doesn’t appear out of nowhere but always draws on past examples that are applied in new ways. This, I think, is true of peace movements.

There are far more historic examples of people resisting conflict and building peace than we can cover in this course. As such, the peace movements you will learn about represent an exercise of selection in order to offer a range of goals, methods, impact, and time periods. The course moves somewhat chronologically towards the present, from a glimpse at ancient and early peace movements to what is happening in the world today. The movements chosen are predominantly, but not exclusively Western. You might want to explore a non-Western peace movement in your essay for the course.