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Great male role models

Johan Galtung (born 24 October 1930) is a Norwegian mathematician and sociologist and a principal founder of the discipline of peace and conflict studies.

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AN INTRODUCTION TO DR. JOHAN GALTUNG

Johan Galtung is one of those rare individuals who manages to integrate
rigorous scholarship and research, the development of innovative
educational programs around the world, social activism, and high level
consultation/mediation in many of the world’s major trouble spots.  He
is  generally regarded as the father of modern peace research and
education, having founded the world’s first Peace Research Institute in
Oslo in 1959,  which remains one of the leading institutes of its kind.
Over the past 40  years his bibliography requires a book in itself,
identifying 95 books and  over 1000 articles.  One of the many
innovative concepts and terms developed  by Professor Galtung that has
become widely known is that of structural  violence, first articulated
in his book by that title.  His writings  reflect original thinking
across an incredibly broad range of issues – the  European Community as
an emerging superpower, violence and imperialism,  terrorism,
non-violent defence, Gandhi, alternatives to NATO, the SALT
Negotiations, methodology in sociology, economic sanctions, peace
culture,  and the role of the media in peace and conflict situations –
to name but a  few.

His scholarship and personal support have led to the development of
many  university based peace study programmes around the world.  He
currently  holds academic positions in Germany, Japan, Italy, China,
Sweden and  Norway.  His training programmes have been provided to
various UN missions,  as well as government officials, NGOs, and
journalists around the world.   However, Professor Galtung is no
armchair academic.  His involvement in  advising governments and
conflict protagonists span four decades, and  inform his conceptual
works.  Professor Galtung understands the real life  practical aspects
of deadly conflicts, and the difficulties of both  preventing violence
from occurring, as well as attempting to return to  normalcy after
violence has erupted.

He has acted as an expert consultant in such diverse conflict situations
as  Somalia, Yugoslavia, Northern Ireland, South Caucasus, the Basque
area in  Spain and France, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, and  those dealing with China, Tibet and Taiwan.  He has been
involved in over 20  visits to both North and South Korea since 1972.
His last two visits were  with Kim Dae Jung as President of South Korea,
where issues of  reconciliation were discussed.  (In August, Professor
Galtung is scheduled  to conduct training sessions in Pyongyang and on
the PeaceBoat during a  cruise from Japan to North Korea and back-on
conflict transformation and  reconciliation).

Professor Galtung was also instrumental in helping to bring a peaceful
end  to the series of four border wars between Peru and Ecuador – his
suggestion  of transforming the disputed territory into a jointly
administered nature  park was written into a treaty between the two
countries in 1999.   In  addition to being recognized with various
honorary degrees, Professor  Galtung is also the recipient of the Right
Livelihood Award (aka the  Alternative Nobel Peace Prize) in 1987, the
Norwegian Humanist Prize in    1988, the Socrates Prize for Adult
Education in 1990, the Bajaj  International Award for Promoting Gandhian
Values in 1993, the Alo’ha  International Award in 1995, and ten
honorary doctorates.   Early in his  career, Professor Galtung was an
active journalist, and has since  collaborated with the BBC World
Service.

He is currently the Director of TRANSCEND, an international Peace and
Development Network.  The website for TRANSCEND is located at
http://www.transcend.org .  TRANSCEND Approach manuals: