ABSTRACT
Peace and peace education are complex and controversial realities. To begin with: the concept of peace is being linked in many minds to the absence of war, or, in a broader sense, to the absence of large-scale violence. The positive or optimal peace concept is ultimately based on human rights and the striving for a just social and economic order. One sometimes talks of “small-scale peace”, as the striving for a group and community life where conflicts are resolved in a non-violent way, which bears an analogy to “large-scale peace” where the actors are nations or large collectives. The advent of a positive or optimal peace concept is narrowly linked to the efforts of charismatic leaders and social groups who were confronted with heavy physical violence or structural oppression. A transition to the critical life-world implies acts of self-determination and critical evaluation of one’s own personality and functioning.
