{"id":306086,"date":"2025-10-27T12:00:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T12:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=306086"},"modified":"2025-10-27T11:51:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T11:51:37","slug":"johan-galtung-the-father-of-peace-studies-24-oct-1930-17-feb-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2025\/10\/johan-galtung-the-father-of-peace-studies-24-oct-1930-17-feb-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Johan Galtung, the Father of Peace Studies (24 Oct 1930 \u2013 17 Feb 2024)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Johan Vincent Galtung, Ph.D. dr hc mult, a professor and researcher on peace studies, was born in Oslo, Norway on 24 Oct 1930. 15 years later, the United Nations would come to existence on the same day\u2014an omen of sorts?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>He received his first Ph.D. in mathematics at age of 25 and would become a sociologist, political scientist, mediator, and the founder of the academic disciplines of Peace and Conflict Studies, among numerous other attributions and qualifications. He founded the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (1959), the world\u2019s first academic research center focused on peace studies, as well as the influential Journal of Peace Research<\/em> (1964) in addition to TRANSCEND Media Service-TMS<\/em> in 2008. He inspired and helped found dozens of other peace centers around the world in his lifetime.<\/p>\n

Johan wrote the inaugural TMS<\/em> editorial on 3 Mar 2008, when our pioneer Solutions-Oriented Peace Journalism<\/em> website was launched.\u00a0 He passed away in Oslo, Norway on 17 Feb 2024 at the age of 93.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Fumiko and Johan
Portrait by Jan Oberg<\/p><\/div>\n

Galtung has served as a professor for peace studies at universities all over the world, including Columbia (New York), Oslo, Berlin, Belgrade, Paris, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Sichuan, Ritsumeikan (Japan), Princeton, Hawai\u2019i, Tromsoe, Bern, Alicante (Spain), Islamic University of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, and dozens of others on all continents. He has taught thousands of individuals and inspired countless others to dedicate their lives to the promotion of peace, conflict resolution by peaceful means, and the satisfaction of basic human needs.<\/p>\n

He mediated in over 150 conflicts between states, nations, religions, civilizations, communities, and persons since 1957. His contributions to peace theory and practice include conceptualization of peace-building, conflict mediation\/transformation, reconciliation, nonviolence, theory of structural violence, theorizing about negative vs. positive peace, peace education and peace journalism. Prof. Galtung\u2019s unique imprint on the study of conflict and peace stems from a combination of systematic scientific inquiry and a Gandhian ethics of peaceful means and harmony. His\/our TRANSCEND motto: Peace by Peaceful Means<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Universidade<\/a>

Universidade do Minho, Portugal, Oct 2017
Johan Galtung and wife Fumiko flanked by Marilyn Langlois, Antonio Rosa and Vasco Barata among faculty members.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI have never been an advocate of world-saving narratives. The point about my work is to identify the neuralgic, specific contradiction in a specific place in space and at a specific moment in time and dissolve the contradiction with conflict transformation in order to prevent an escalation of whatever social contradiction one is dealing with into violence, whether direct or structural. To ask me whether I want to save the world is to have understood nothing about how conflict transformation works in practice. It\u2019s like suggesting that a brain surgeon would want to extract a patient\u2019s entire brain instead of working on the specific complication identified and localized in a specific region of the cerebral cortex. No, that is no way to proceed. One identifies concrete underlying contradictions in the social system at hand, then one identifies the causes, its drivers, and strives to undo the harm and hurt that could result from it by nonviolent means. I am not concerned with saving the world \u2013 I am concerned with finding solutions to specific conflicts before they become violent.\u201d <\/em>\u2014 Johan Galtung<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Galtung was jailed in Norway for six months at age 24 as a Conscientious Objector to compulsory military service, after having done 12 months of civilian service. He requested to serve an extra six months if he could work for peace, but it was refused.<\/p>\n

In jail, he wrote his first book, Gandhi\u2019s Political Ethics<\/em>, together with his mentor, Arne N\u00e6ss. This event would trigger a lifetime work for peace: 170 books, plus.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Johan Galtung Park ‘por la Paz’ in Alfaz del Pi, Benidorm, Spain<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Galtung\/TRANSCEND Conflict Diagram
TRANSCEND Method<\/p><\/div>\n

He founded in 1993 TRANSCEND International,<\/a> a global nonprofit network for Peace, Development and the Environment, then composed of some 500 members in more than 70 countries. In 2000, the TRANSCEND Peace University<\/a> was launched, the world\u2019s first online Peace Studies University. As a testimony to his legacy, peace studies are now taught and researched at universities worldwide and contribute to peacemaking efforts in conflicts everywhere. In 2008, he founded the TRANSCEND University Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Galtung’s Peace Formula<\/p><\/div>\n

Johan Galtung has conducted a great deal of research in many fields and made original contributions not only to peace studies but also, among others, human rights, basic needs, development strategies, a world economy that sustains life, macro-history, theory of civilizations, federalism, globalization, theory of discourse, social pathologies, deep culture, peace and religions, social science methodology, sociology, ecology, future studies.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As a recipient of over a dozen honorary doctorates and professorships and many other distinctions, including a Right Livelihood Award<\/strong> (also known as Alternative Nobel Peace Prize<\/strong>), Johan Galtung remained committed all his life to the study and promotion of peace.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Right Livelihood Award ceremony 1987. Johan Galtung is 3rd from right.<\/p><\/div>\n

Galtung\u00a0has mediated in\u00a0over 150 conflicts in more than 150 countries, and written more than 170 books on peace and related issues<\/em>, 96 as the only author. More than 40 have been translated to other languages, including <\/em>50 Years-100 Peace and Conflict Perspectives<\/a> published by <\/em>TRANSCEND University Press<\/a>. <\/em>Transcend and Transform<\/a> was translated to 25 languages<\/em>. He has published more than 1500 articles\u00a0and book\u00a0chapters and over 500 Editorials for <\/em>TRANSCEND Media Service<\/a>. More information about Prof. Galtung<\/a> and all of his publications<\/a> can be found at transcend.org\/galtung<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

____________________________________
\n\"\"<\/a>Antonio C. S. Rosa (at the right of Johan Galtung in this photo), born 1946, is founder-editor of the pioneering Peace Journalism website, <\/em>TRANSCEND Media Service-TMS<\/a> (from 2008) under Galtung\u2019s inspiration and guidance. He is Johan\u2019s assistant, Secretary of the International Board of the <\/em>TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a>, and recipient of the Psychologists for Social Responsibility\u2019s<\/strong> 2017 Anthony J. Marsella Prize<\/a> for the Psychology of Peace and Social Justice.<\/strong> He completed the required coursework for a Ph.D. in Political Science-Peace Studies (1994), has a Masters in Political Science-International Relations (1990), and a B.A. in Communication (1988) from the University of Hawai\u2019i<\/a>. Originally from Brazil, he lives presently in Porto, Portugal. Antonio was educated in the USA where he lived for 20 years; in Europe-India since 1994. <\/em>Books: <\/em><\/strong>Peace Journalism: 80 Galtung Editorials on War and Peace<\/a> (editor)<\/em> \u2013 Cobertura de Conflitos: Jornalismo para a Paz<\/a> (from Johan Galtung, translation to Portuguese)<\/em> \u2013 Transcender e Transformar: Uma Introdu\u00e7\u00e3o ao Trabalho de Conflitos<\/a> (from Johan Galtung, translation to Portuguese). <\/em>TMS articles by Rosa HERE<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Johan was born in Oslo, Norway on 24 Oct 1930. 15 years later, the UN would come to existence on the same day\u2014an omen of sorts? He received his first Ph.D. in mathematics at age of 25 and would become a sociologist, political scientist, mediator, and the founder of the academic disciplines of Peace and Conflict Studies, among numerous other attributions and qualifications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":274645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[214],"tags":[900,2628,2768,809,2346,826,1667,945,497,1450],"class_list":["post-306086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biographies","tag-biography","tag-conflict-mediation","tag-conflict-studies","tag-johan-galtung","tag-memoirs","tag-peace-studies","tag-right-livelihood-awards","tag-transcend-media-service","tag-transcend-method","tag-transcend-network"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306086"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":306256,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306086\/revisions\/306256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}