Case studies

The Black Lives Matter movement stands up against police brutality and racial violence against Black people in the US and around the world. One of the most famous slogans chanted during Black Lives Matter protests is “No justice, no peace!”.

Photo credits: A demonstrator holds a No Justice No Peace sign at the rally for Philando Castile outside the Governor’s residence in St Paul MN 7/7/2016, by Lorie Shaull, published on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.0

Watch this short video to learn more about the Black Lives Matter movement in the US.

Which peace definitions do you think fit best to this movement? (there is more than one right answer!)

Service Civil International (SCI) is the organisation behind this course. Now what is our own definition of peace? Here you can read our definition from an SCI policy paper from 2005:

“Peace means the absence of physical and structural violence inflicted by human beings: it is more than the absence of war, although war is the ultimate form of non-peace. Phrased positively, it means a way of living together, in which people give their fellow creatures the space and, if necessary, the mutual support to live their lives to the full. This includes social justice, mutual respect, community spirit, freedom of opinion and speech, a healthy environment and sustainable use of natural resources. Peace is not a static situation that can be created once and for all. Working for peace is a continuous process in which parts of what we are hoping for are sometimes reached but not possessed and controlled.”

Which peace definitions do you think fit best to this movement? (there is more than one right answer!)

War Resisters International is a global network of pacifist and antimilitarist organisations in 40 countries. They were founded in 1921 with the following principle: “War is a crime against humanity. I am therefore determined not to support any kind of war, and to strive for the removal of all causes of war.”

War Resisters International organises protests and campaigns against all forms of war and military institutions. They support conscientious objectors – i.e. people who decide not to go to military service because they want to make a stand against war – in their legal and personal battles against the state and the military.

Which peace definition do you think fit best to this movement? (there is only one right answer)