2b. Categories and Changes

Given that the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded for over one hundred years now, it is interesting to look at changes over time. Some of this change is examined in the article “Trends in Nobel Peace Prizes in the Twentieth Century,” by Øyvind Tønnesson. Also look at his “Lists and Categories” of Laureates (prize-winners). He analyzes the prize according to gender (just men and women), whether the prize went to individuals or organizations, and the geographical location of the winner.

He also updated Irwin Abrams’ six categories that describe the nature of the activity being recognized:¹

1. Organized peace movement (usually these are movements for disarmament or focused on solving inter-state conflict)
2. Humanitarian (aimed at eliminating human suffering caused by conflict)
3. International Jurist (law-related)
4. Statesman (politicians and leaders of states)
5. Religious (individuals working within a church position)
6. Human Rights (pro-democracy, anti-oppression activity)

Through the 20th century, most awards went to the Statesman category. Only a few went to the International Jurist and Religious categories, which are defined narrowly. Awards to the Organized Peace Movement were most common up to the mid-20th century, while awards in the Humanitarian or Human Rights category did not appear until the latter half of the 20th century. I think this reflects the exponential rise of non-governmental peacebuilding organizations, and the emergence of human rights as an emphasis after the Second World War. Today we might add one or more additional categories. Perhaps Environment should be added in an era when conflict-related climate change is becoming a significant issue.

What is especially notable about Tønnesson’s data is the gradual inclusion of more women on the list of prize-winners and more recipients from outside of Western Europe and North America.

2b. Nobel Peace Prize Activity

Here is an activity for you. Since Tønnesson’s study ends in 2001, I would like you to survey the awards for 2009 to 2013 and categorize them by gender, whether individual or organization, and by geographic region. Can you also slot the winners into the six categories noted above? Look at the chart in the document “Lists and Categories of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.” This might require a bit of research on the Nobel Peace Prize website, to get to know the Laureates of the 21st century: Nobel Peace Prize.

Instructions: In this ungraded activity, for each year's winner(s), identify whether they are individuals (male or female or both/neither), or an organization; their geographical region; and their category. The answer to the "category" may not be completely obvious, and in some cases, there may be multiple good answers, but this is a good thinking exercise, nevertheless. The course author's answers will be provided at the end of the activity. If you like, you can complete this activity for all recipients from 2002 to the present by creating your own chart.

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