BRC BOOK LAUNCH
Cultures of Peace: The Hidden Side of History

Elise Boulding’s Cultures of Peace: The Hidden Side of History (Syracuse University Press) was introduced at the BRC in May of 2000. As this book and its distinguished author were honored, the ongoing struggle of the ever-vibrant peace movement was reaffirmed.

The book-signing, which provided an evening prelude to the day-long Coalition for a Strong United Nations (CSUN) conference, "Peace Is in Our Hands," began with enthusiastic acknowledgments of Boulding’s life and work. Among the speakers was Dr. Vincent Harding, professor of Religion and Social Transformation at the University of Denver’s Iliff School of Theology and long-time friend and peace activist.

"We have an exemplary elder sister and comrade in the continuing struggle for a more perfect union and a more compassionate and peaceful world," Dr. Harding said. "We have an elder sister in the struggle that goes on within each of us to become more fully the human beings that we were meant to be. And I am grateful for Elise because it seems to me that she manifests and exemplifies some of our best hopes and dreams."

As Elise Boulding reminisced about her life and her work she praised the heroic and constant peacemaking efforts of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. With warmth and dignity, she spoke of how important it is to be part of a community that shares values.

"There are no safe places except as we make them," she observed as she spoke about the Second World War and the invasion of Norway, but the phrase seemed emblematic of everything she stands for. It is a reflection of her wholehearted response to the Quaker query, "Is your home a center of peace and love that refreshes and strengthens everyone who comes there?"

In the course of her remarks Boulding, a sociology professor emerita at Dartmouth, underscored the importance of networking, protest, volunteer efforts, and envisioning a future without war. "The image of sitting together in peace is very old," she insisted, in speaking of one of the fundamental tenets of her recent book. "We can’t work for what we can’t visualize."

Peace Studies Association and Tufts University Honor Elise Boulding’s Cultures of Peace

Elise Boulding and her book, Cultures of Peace: The Hidden Side of History, were also the focus of a three-day conference at Tufts University March 30-April 1, 2001. BRC executive director Virginia Straus participated in a panel on institutional contexts for cultures of peace that included Ambassador Chowdhury of the Bangladesh Mission to the UN and Professor Alicia Cabezudo of Columbia University.

Straus spoke of how the Earth Charter movement exemplifies a culture of peace and promotes many of Boulding’s key principles: listening, faith in micro-level processes, the empowerment of civil society, and the necessity of balancing human needs for autonomy and bonding.

Straus emphasized the value of the Earth Charter as a peoples’ treaty, pointing out that, "The Earth Charter could become a stepping stone for a renewed UN in which global civil society takes its place as an equal partner with the governments of the world, acting as a co-shaper of international law and policy."

She also praised ground-breaking governments like Costa Rica and the Russian Republic of Tartarstan where the principles of the Earth Charter have been embraced and are being translated into "zones of peace culture."