Cultural Violence

Author(s): Johan Galtung

Source: Journal of Peace Research , Aug., 1990, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Aug., 1990), pp. 291-305
Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd.

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? Journal of Peace Research, vol. 27, no. 3, 1990, pp. 291-305

Cultural Violence*

JOHAN GALTUNG
College of Social Sciences, University of Hawaii, Manoa

This article introduces a concept of 'cultural violence', and can be seen as a follow-up of th
introduction of the concept of 'structural violence' over 20 years ago (Galtung, 1969). 'Cultural
defined here as any aspect of a culture that can be used to legitimize violence in its direct or struc
Symbolic violence built into a culture does not kill or maim like direct violence or the violenc
the structure. However, it is used to legitimize either or both, as for instance in the theory of a H
or a superior race. The relations between direct, structural and cultural violence are explor
violence triangle and a violence strata image, with various types of casual flows. Examples
violence are indicated, using a division of culture into religion and ideology, art and lang
empirical and formal science. The theory of cultural violence is then related to two basic
Gandhism, the doctrines of unity of life and of unity of means and ends. Finally, the inclusion of
a major focus of peace research is seen not only as deepening the quest for peace, but also a
contribution to the as yet non-existent general discipline of 'culturology'.

1. Definition only one but a set of aspects so violent, exten-

By 'cultural violence' we mean those aspects sive and diverse, spanning all cultural
of culture, the symbolic sphere of our exist- domains, that the step from talking about
ence - exemplified by religion and ideology, cases of cultural violence to violent cultures
language and art, empirical science and may be warranted. For that, a systematic
formal science (logic, mathematics) - that research process is needed. This article is
can be used to justify or legitimize direct or part of that process.
structural violence.1 Stars, crosses and One place to start would be to clarity 'cul-
crescents; flags, anthems and military tural violence' by searching for its negation.
parades; the ubiquitous portrait of the If the opposite of violence is peace, the sub-
Leader; inflammatory speeches and posters - ject matter of peace research/peace studies,
all these come to mind. However, let us post- then the opposite of cultural violence would
pone the examples until section 4 and start be 'cultural peace', meaning aspects of a cul-
with analysis. The features mentioned above ture that serve to justify and legitimize direct
are 'aspects of culture', not entire cultures. A peace and structural peace. If many and
person encouraging a potential killer, shout- diverse aspects of that kind are found in a
ing 'Killing is self-realization!', may prove culture, we can refer to it as a 'peace culture'.
that the English language is capable of A major task of peace research, and the
expressing such thoughts, but not that the peace movement in general, is that never-
English language as such is violent. Entire ending search for a peace culture - proble-
cultures can hardly be classified as violent; matic, because of the temptation to institu-
this is one reason for preferring the expres- tionalize that culture, making it obligatory
sion 'Aspect A of culture C is an example of with the hope of internalizing it everywhere.
cultural violence' to cultural stereotypes like And that would already be direct violence,
'culture C is violent'. imposing a culture.
On the other hand, cultures could be Cultural violence makes direct and struc-
imagined and even encountered with not
tural violence look, even feel, right - or at
least not wrong. Just as political science is
about
* Presented as a lecture at the University of Melbourne two problems - the use of power and
Peace Studies Group, March 1989; at the summer
the legitimation of the use of power -
Schools in Peace Studies at the University of Oslo and
violence studies are about two problems: the
the University of Hawaii, July 1989; and at the Inter-
use 1of violence and the legitimation of that
national Peace Research Institute, Oslo, August 1989.
am indebted to discussants at all these places. use. The psychological mechanism would be

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292 Johan Galtung

Table I. A Typology of Violence

Survival Well-being Identity Freedom

Needs Needs Needs Needs

Direct Violence Killing Maiming Desocialization Repression

Siege, Sanctions Resocialization Detention
Misery Secondary Citizen Expulsion
Structural Violence Exploitation A Exploitation B Penetration Marginalization
Segmentation Fragmentation

internalization.3 The study of cultural

violence (see Table I). A first comment could
be that Table I is anthropo-centric. A fifth
violence highlights the way in which the act
of direct violence and the fact of structural
column could be added at the beginning for
the rest of Nature, the sine qua non for
violence are legitimized and thus rendered
human existence. 'Ecological balance' is
acceptable in society. One way cultural
probably the most frequently found term
violence works is by changing the moral color
of an act from red/wrong to green/right or used
at for environment system maintenance.
least to yellow/acceptable; an example beingIf this is not satisfied, the result is ecological
degradation, breakdown, imbalance. Eco-
'murder on behalf of the country as right, on
behalf of oneself wrong'. Another way is by balance corresponds to survival + well-being
making reality opaque, so that we do not see+ freedom + identity for human basic main-
the violent act or fact, or at least not as tenance. If not satisfied, the result is human
violent. Obviously this is more easily done degradation. The sum of all five, for all, will
with some forms of violence than with define 'peace'.
others; an example being abortus provoca- But 'ecological balance' is a very broad
tus. Hence, peace studies is in need of a encompassing abiota (non-life) and
category
violence typology, in much the same way biota
as a (life) alike. Violence defined as insults
pathology is among the prerequisites for would focus on biota, only indirectly
to life
health studies. on abiota. Moreover, there are difficult and
important questions, such as 'balance for
whom?' For human beings to reproduce
2. A Typology of Direct and Structural themselves? At what level of economic
Violence activity and what numbers? Or, for the
I see violence as avoidable insults to basic 'environment' (what an anthropo-centric
human needs, and more generally to life,term!) to reproduce itself? All parts, equally,
at what level, what numbers? Or for both?
lowering the real level of needs satisfaction
Second, the mega-versions of the pale
below what is potentially possible. Threats of
words
violence are also violence. Combining theused above for violence should also be
contemplated. For 'killing' read extermi-
distinction between direct and structural
nation, holocaust, genocide. For 'misery'
violence with four classes of basic needs we
read silent holocaust. For 'alienation' read
get the typology of Table I. The four classes
of basic needs - an outcome of extensive spiritual death. For 'repression' read gulag/
KZ. For 'ecological degradation' read eco-
dialogs in many parts of the world (Galtung,
cide. For all of this together read 'omnicide'.
1980a) - are: survival needs (negation: death,
mortality); well-being needs (negation:Themis-
words might sound like someone's effort
ery, morbidity); identity, meaning needs to be apocalyptic - were it not for the fact
(negation: alienation); and freedom needsthat the world has experienced all of this
(negation: repression). during the last 50 years alone, closely asso-
The result is eight types of violence ciated
with with the names of Hitler, Stalin and
some subtypes, easily identified for direct
Reagan4 and Japanese militarism.5 In short,
violence but more complex for structural violence studies, an indispensable part of

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Cultural Violence 293

peace studies, may be a horror cabinet; but aspect: to be desocialized away from own
like pathology they reflect a reality to be culture and to be resocialized into another
known and understood. culture - like the prohibition and imposition
Then some comments on the content of of languages. The one does not presuppose
theof
the Table as it stands. The first category other. But they often come together in
the category of second class citizenship,
violence, killing, is clear enough, as is maim-
where the subjected group (not necessarily a
ing. Added together they constitute 'casual-
ties', used in assessing the magnitude of a
'minority') is forced to express dominant cul-
war. But 'war' is only one particular formture
of and not its own, at least not in public
orchestrated violence, usually with at space.
least The problem is, of course, that any
one actor, a government. How narrow it issocialization
to of a child - in the family, at
school, by society at large - is also forced, a
see peace as the opposite of war, and limit
peace studies to war avoidance studies, kind
and of brainwashing, giving the child no
more particularly avoidance of big wars or
choice. Consequently, we might arrive at the
super-wars (defined as wars betweenconclusion
big (not that far-fetched) that non-
powers or superpowers), and even more violent
par- socialization is to give the child a
ticularly to the limitation, abolitionchoice,
or e.g. by offering him/her more than
control of super-weapons. Important inter-one cultural idiom.
connections among types of violence are left The category of 'repression' has a similar
double
out, particularly the way in which one type of definition: the 'freedom from' and
violence may be reduced or controlled at the 'freedom to' of the International Bill of
the
expense of increase or maintenanceHuman of Rights,7 with historical and cultural
another. Like 'side-effects' in health studies,
limitations (Galtung, 1988a). Two categories
they are very important and easily over- have been added explicitly because of their
looked. Peace research should avoid that significance as concomitants of other types of
mistake.6 violence: detention, meaning locking people
Included under maiming is also the insult in (prisons, concentration camps), and
to human needs brought about by siege/ expulsion, meaning locking people out
blockade (classical term) and sanctions (banishing them abroad or to distant parts of
(modern term). To some, this is 'non- the country).
violence', since direct and immediate killing To discuss the categories of structural
is avoided. To the victims, however, it may violence we need an image of a violent
mean slow but intentional killing through structure, and a vocabulary, a discourse, in
malnutrition and lack of medical attention, order to identify the aspects and see how
hitting the weakest first, the children, the they relate to the needs categories. The
elderly, the poor, the women. By making the archetypal violent structure, in my view, has
causal chain longer the actor avoids having to exploitation as a center-piece. This simply
face the violence directly. He even 'gives the means that some, the topdogs, get much
victims a chance', usually to submit, meaning more (here measured in needs currency) out
loss of freedom and identity instead of loss of of the interaction in the structure than
life and limbs, trading the last two for the first others, the underdogs (Galtung, 1978, parts
two types of direct violence. But the mechan- I-III). There is 'unequal exchange', a
ism is the threat to the livelihood brought euphemism. The underdogs may in fact be
about by siege/boycott/sanctions. The Gand- so disadvantaged that they die (starve, waste
hian type of economic boycott combined away from diseases) from it: exploitation
refusal to buy British textiles with the collect- A. Or they may be left in a permanent,
ing of funds for the merchants, in order not to unwanted state of misery, usually including
confuse the issue by threatening their malnutrition and illness: exploitation B. The
livelihood. way people die differs: in the Third World,
The category of 'alienation' can be definedfrom diarrhea and immunity deficiencies; in
in terms of socialization, meaning the inter- the 'developed' countries, avoidably and
nalization of culture. There is a double prematurely, from cardio-vascular diseases

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294 Johan Galtung

and malignant tumors. All of this happens 3. Relating Three Types of Violence
within complex structures and at the end of With these comments 'violence' is defined in
long, highly ramified causal chains and extension by the types given in Table I, using
cycles. direct and structural violence as overarching
A violent structure leaves marks not only categories or 'super-types'. 'Cultural
on the human body but also on the mind and violence' can now be added as the third
the spirit. The next four terms can be seen as super-type and put in the third corner of a
parts of exploitation or as reinforcing compo- (vicious) violence triangle as an image. When
nents in the structure. They function by the triangle is stood on its 'direct' and 'struc-
impeding consciousness formation and tural violence' feet, the image invoked is
mobilization, two conditions for effective cultural violence as the legitimizer of both.
struggle against exploitation. Penetration, Standing the triangle on its 'direct violence'
implanting the topdog inside the underdog head yields the image of structural and cul-
so to speak, combined with segmentation, tural sources of direct violence. Of course,
giving the underdog only a very partial view the triangle always remains a triangle - but
of what goes on, will do the first job. And the image produced is different, and all six
marginalization, keeping the underdogs on positions (three pointing downward, three
the outside, combined with fragmentation, upward) invoke somewhat different stories,
keeping the underdogs away from each all worth telling.
other, will do the second job. However, Despite the symmetries there is a basic
these four should also be seen as structural difference in the time relation of the three
violence in their own right, and more par- concepts of violence. Direct violence is an
ticularly as variation on the general themeevent; structural violence is a process with
ups and downs; cultural violence is an invar-
of structurally built-in repression. They have
all been operating in gender contexts - a 'permanence' (Galtung, 1977, ch. 9),
iant,
even if women do not always have higher remaining essentially the same for long per-
mortality and morbidity rates but in fact iods, given the slow transformations of basic
may have higher life expectancy than men, culture. Put in the useful terms of the French
provided they survive gender-specific Annales school in history: '6venementielle,
abortion, infanticide and the first years conjoncturelle, la longue dur6e.' The three
of childhood. In short, exploitation and forms of violence enter time differently,
repression go hand in hand, as violence: somewhat
but like the difference in earthquake
they are not identical. theory between the earthquake as an event,
How about violence against nature? There the movement of the tectonic plates as a
is the direct violence of slashing, burning,
process and the fault line as a more perma-
nent condition.
etc., as in a war. The structural form of such
violence would be more insidious, not This leads to a violence strata image (com-
intended to destroy nature but neverthelessplementing the triangle image) of the pheno-
doing so: the pollution and depletion asso-menology of violence, useful as a paradigm
ciated with modern industry, leadinggenerating
to a wide variety of hypotheses. At
dying forests, ozone holes, global warming,the bottom is the steady flow through time of
and so on. What happens is transformation cultural violence, a substratum from which
the other two can derive their nutrients. In
of nature through industrial activity, leaving
non-degradable residues and depleting non- the next stratum the rhythms of structural
renewable resources, combined with a violence are located. Patterns of exploitation
world-encompassing commercialization that are building up, wearing out, or torn down,
makes the consequences non-visible to the with the protective accompaniment of pene-
perpetrators.8 Two powerful structures at tration-segmentation preventing conscious-
work, indeed, legitimized by economicness formation, and fragmentation-margina-
lization preventing organization against
growth. The buzzword 'sustainable econ-
omic growth' may prove to be yet another
exploitation and repression. And at the top,
form of cultural violence. visible to the unguided eye and to barefoot

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Cultural Violence 295

empiricism, is the stratum of direct violence causal flows in all six directions, and cycles
with the whole record of direct cruelty perpe- connecting all three may start at any point.
trated by human beings against each other This is a good reason why the triangle may
and against other forms of life and nature in sometimes be a better image than the three-
general. tier stratum model. Africans are captured,
Generally, a causal flow from cultural via forced across the Atlantic to work as slaves;
structural to direct violence can be identi- millions are killed in the process - in Africa,
fied. The culture preaches, teaches, admo-on board, in the Americas. This massive di-
nishes, eggs on, and dulls us into seeing rect violence over centuries seeps down and
sediments as massive structural violence,
exploitation and/or repression as normal and
with whites as the master topdogs and blacks
natural, or into not seeing them (particularly
as the slave underdogs, producing and repro-
-not exploitation) at all. Then come the erup-
tions, the efforts to use direct violence to ducing
get massive cultural violence with racist
ideas everywhere. After some time, direct
out of the structural iron cage (Weber, 1971),
and counter-violence to keep the cage intact.violence is forgotten, slavery is forgotten,
Ordinary, regular criminal activity is partlyand only two labels show up, pale enough for
an effort by the underdog to 'get out',college
to textbooks: 'discrimination' for mas-
sive structural violence and 'prejudice' for
redistribute wealth, get even, get revenge
('blue-collar crime'), or by somebodymassive
to cultural violence. Sanitation of lan-
remain or become a topdog, sucking guage:
the itself cultural violence.
The vicious violence cycle can also start in
structure for what it is worth ('white-collar
the structural violence corner. Social differ-
crime'). Both direct and structural violence
create needs-deficits. When this happens
entiation slowly takes on vertical characteris-
suddenly we can talk of trauma. When tics it with increasingly unequal exchange, and
happens to a group, a collectivity, we have these social facts would then be in search of
the collective trauma that can sediment into social acts for their maintenance, and cul-
the collective subconscious and become raw tural violence for their justification - to
material for major historical processes generalize
and 'materialist' (meaning structural)
events. The underlying assumption is simple: Marxist theory. Or, the vicious cycle could
'violence breeds violence'. Violence is start in combined direct and structural
needs-deprivation; needs-deprivation violence, with one group treating another
is ser-
ious; one reaction is direct violence. But so
group that
badly that they feel a need for justi-
is not the only reaction. There couldfication
also be and
a eagerly accept any cultural ratio-
nale handed to them. More than one thou-
feeling of hopelessness, a deprivation/frus-
tration syndrome that shows up on sand years ago Nordic Vikings attacked,
the inside
cheated
as self-directed aggression and on the outsideand killed Russians. Might that not
as apathy and withdrawal. Given be aa choice
good enough reason for formulating the
idea that Russians are dangerous, wild,
between a boiling, violent and a freezing,
apathetic society as reaction to primitive
massive- meaning that one day they may
needs-deprivation, topdogs tend to come back and do the same to us as we did to
prefer
the latter. They prefer 'governability'
them?9 Evento to the point that when Ger-
'trouble, anarchy'. They love 'stability'.
many attacked Norway in April 1940, the
Indeed, a major form of cultural official conclusion became that the Russians
violence
are dangerous
indulged in by ruling elites is to blame the because they may one day do
victim of structural violence who throws the the same. And here we see the surprise
attack trauma.
first stone, not in a glasshouse but to get out
of the iron cage, stamping him as 'aggressor'. Could there be still a deeper stratum,
The category of structural violence should
human nature, with genetically transmitted
make such cultural violence transparent. dispositions or at least predispositions for
However, the violence strata image doesaggression (direct violence) and domination
not define the only causal chain in the (structural violence)? The human potential
violence triangle. There are linkages and
for direct and structural violence is certainly

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296 Johan Galtung

there - as is the potential for direct and struc- ing and exercise components into high school
tural peace. In my view, however, the most and university curricula and structure,13 and
important argument against a biological disseminating militarism as culture, should
determinism that postulates a drive in human merit particular attention. Yet structure and
nature for aggression and dominance, com- culture are usually not included in 'arms
parable to drives for food and sex, is the high control' studies, both being highly sensitive
level of variability in aggressiveness and areas. Those taboos have to be broken.
dominance. We find people seeking food and
sex under (almost) all external circum-
stances. But aggression and dominance exhi- 4. Examples of Cultural Violence
bit tremendous variation, depending on the We turn now to the listing of six cultural
context, including the structural and cultural domains mentioned in the introduction -
conditions. Of course, the drive may still be religion and ideology, language and art,
empirical and formal science - giving one or
there, only not strong enough to assert itself
under all circumstances. In that case, the
two examples of cultural violence from each
domain. The logic of the scheme is simple:
concern of the peace researcher would be to
know those circumstances, and to exploreidentify the cultural element and show how it
how to remove or modify them. Here my can, empirically or potentially, be used to
hypothesis would be that the two terms legitimize direct or structural violence.
'structure' and 'culture' can accommodate
this exploration very comfortably. 4.1 Religion
Let us reap an important harvest fromIn all religions there is somewhere the
this
taxonomic exercise: we can use it to clarify
sacred, das Heilige; let us call it 'god'. A basic
distinction
the concept of militarization as a process, and can be made between a transcen-
militarism as the ideology accompanyingdental
that God outside us and an immanent god
inside us, maybe also inside all life.14 The
process. Obviously, one aspect is a general
inclination toward direct violence in the form Judaism of the Torah, founded almost 4000
of real or threatened military action, whetheryears ago, envisaged God as a male deity
provoked or not, whether to settle conflict orresiding outside planet Earth. A catastrophic
initiate it. This inclination brings in its wake idea; a clear case of transcendentalism as a
the production and deployment of the appro- metaphor from which many consequences
priate hardware and software. However, itfollow, taken over by the other Semitic or
would be superficial to study militarizationoccidental religions, Christianity and Islam.
only in terms of past military activity records, With god outside us, as God, even 'above'
and present production and deployment pat-('Our Father, who art in Heaven') it is not
terns;"' this would lead to facile conclusionsinevitable but indeed likely that some people
in terms of personnel, budget and armswill be seen as closer to that God than others,
control only. Good weeding presupposeseven as 'higher'. Moreover, in the general
getting at the roots, in this case at the struc- occidental tradition of not only dualism but
tural and cultural roots, as suggested by theManichaeism, with sharp dichotomies be-
three-strata paradigm. Concretely, this tween good and evil, there would also have
means identifying structural and cultural to be something like an evil Satan corres-
aspects that would tend to reproduce the ponding to the good God, for reasons of
readiness for military action, production and symmetry. Again transcendental and imma-
deployment. This would include mobbing ofnent representations are possible, with God
young boys at school, primogeniture,".and Satan possessing or at least choosing
unemployment and exploitation in general. their own; or with god or satan - not to
Further, the use of military production andmention god and satan - being inside us. All
deployment to stimulate economic growthcombinations are found in all occidental reli-
and economic distribution; heavily national-gions. But the focus here is on the hard
ist, racist and sexist ideologies,2 and so on. version, belief in a transcendental God and a
The combination of building military teach-transcendental Satan.

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Cultural Violence 297

Whom does God choose? Would it not be by adopting a more immanent concept of god
reasonable to assume that He chooses those (sufism, Francis of Assisi, Spinoza).
most in His image, leaving it to Satan to takeThe consequences in the right-hand col-
the others, as indicated in Table II? This umn of Table II could also follow from
would give us a double dichotomy with God, premises other than a theology of chosen-
the Chosen Ones (by God), The Unchosen ness; the table only postulates contributing,
Ones (by God, chosen by Satan) and Satan; sufficient causes.
the chosen heading for salvation and close- For a contemporary example consider the
ness to God in Heaven, the unchosen for policies of Israel with regard to the Palesti-
damnation and closeness to Satan in Hell. nians. The Chosen People even have a Pro-
However, Heaven and Hell can also be mised Land, the Eretz Yisrael. They behave
reproduced on earth, as a foretaste or indica- as one would expect, translating chosenness,
tion of the afterlife. Misery/luxury cana be vicious type of cultural violence, into all
seen as preparations for Hell/Heaven - and eight types of direct and structural violence
social class as the finger of God. listed in Table I. There is.killing; maiming,
An immanent concept of god as residing material deprivation by denying West Bank
inside us would make any such dichotomy an inhabitants what is needed for livelihood;
act against god. With a transcendental God, there is desocialization within the theocratic
however, this all becomes meaningful. The state of Israel with second class citizenship to
first three choices listed in Table II are found non-Jews; there is detention, individual
as early as Genesis. The last one is moreexpulsion and perennial threat of massive
typical of the New Testament with its focusexpulsion. There is exploitation, at least as
on right belief, not just on right deeds. Theexploitation B.
other two are found as scattered references The four structural concomitants of
to slaves, and to rendering unto the Lord
exploitation are all well developed: efforts to
what is of the Lord and unto Caesar what is make the Palestinians see themselves as born
Caesar's. The upper classes referred tounderdogs,
as at most heading for second class
being closer to God have actually tradition-
citizenship by 'getting used to it'; giving them
ally been three: Clergy, for the obvious
small segments of economic activity; keeping
reason that they possessed special insightthem in outside Jewish society both within and
how to communicate with God; Aristocracy, outside the Green Line, and dealing with
particularly the rex gratia dei, and Capita- Palestinians in a divide et impera mode (as in
the Camp David process), never as one peo-
lists, if they are successful. The lower classes
and the poor were also chosen, even as the ple. There is neither massive extermination
first to enter Paradise (the Sermon on the nor massive exploitation A of the sort found
Mount), but only in the after-life. The six in many Third World countries under the
together constitute a hard Judaism-Christia- debt burden, which above all hits children.
nity-Islam which can be softened by giving The violence is more evenly distributed over
up some positions and turned into softer the whole repertory of eight types. To some,
Islam, softer Christianity and softer Judaism
who set their sights low, defined by Hitlerite

Table II. The Chosen and the Unchosen

God Chooses And Leaves to Satan With the Consequence of

Human Species Animals, Plants, Nature Speciesism, Ecocide

Men Women Sexism, Witch-burning
His People The others Nationalism, Imperialism
Whites Colored Racism, Colonialism
Upper Classes Lower Classes 'Classism', Exploitation
True Believers Heretics, Pagans 'Meritism', Inquisition

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298 Johan Galtung

or Stalinist extermination and Reaganite god. Thus, only human beings are seen as
exploitation A, this means that no mass capable of self-reflection; men are stronger/
violence is going on, thus proving how more logical than women; certain nations are
humane the Israelis are. Such perspectives modern/carriers of civilization and the his-
are also examples of cultural violence, indi- torical process more than others; whites are
cative of how moral standards have become more intelligent/logical than non-whites; in
in this century.'5 modern 'equal opportunity' society the best
are at the top and hence entitled to power
and privilege. And certain tenets of belief in
4.2 Ideology modernization, development, progress are
With the decline, and perhaps death, not seen as apodictic; not to believe in them
only of the transcendental but also the imma- reflects badly on the non-believer, not on the
nent god through secularization, we could belief.
expect successors to religion in the form of All of these ideas have been and still are
political ideologies, and to God in the form strong in Western culture, although the faith
of the modern state, to exhibit some of the in male, Western, white innate superiority
same character traits. Religion and God may has now been badly shaken by the struggles
be dead - but not the much more basic idea of for liberation by women, non-Western peo-
sharp and value-loaded dichotomies. The ples (such as the Japanese economic success
lines may no longer be drawn between God,over the West), and colored people inside
the Chosen, the Unchosen and Satan. Western societies. The United States, the
Modernity would reject God and Satan but most Christian nation on earth, has served as
might demand a distinction between Chosen a major battleground, inside and outside, for
and Unchosen; let us call them Self and these struggles. Reducing US cultural
Other. Archetype: nationalism, with State asviolence becomes particularly important pre-
God's successor. cisely because that country sets the tone for
A steep gradient is then constructed, others.
inflating, even exalting, the value of Self; These three assumptions - all based on
ascribed distinctions, gender, race and
deflating, even debasing, the value of Other.
nation already given at birth - are hard to
At that point, structural violence can start
maintain in an achievement-oriented
operating. It will tend to become a self-fulfill-
ing prophecy: people become debased society.
by But if modern society is a meritoc
being exploited, and they are exploited
racy, then to deny power and privilege t
because they are seen as debased, dehuma- those on the top is to deny merit itself. T
nized. When Other is not only dehumanized deny a minimum of 'modern orientation' is t
but has been successfully converted intoopen
an the field to any belief, including deny-
'it', deprived of humanhood, the stage is ing
set power and privilege for the meritorio
for any type of direct violence,16 whichand is a strict border between human life and
then blamed on the victim. This is then rein- other forms of life. In short, residual chosen-
forced by the category of the 'dangerous it', ness will stay on for a while as speciesism,
the 'vermin', or 'bacteria' (as Hitler de-'classism' and 'meritism', regardless of the
scribed the Jews); the 'class enemy' (as Stalin status of God and Satan.
described the 'kulaks'); the 'mad dog' (as The ideology of nationalism, rooted in the
Reagan described Qadhafi); the 'cranky cri-figure of Chosen People and justified
minals' (as Washington experts describe 'ter-through religion or ideology, should be seen
rorists'). Extermination becomes a psycholo-in conjunction with the ideology of the state,
gically possible duty. The SS guards becomestatism. Article 9 in the postwar Japanese
heroes to be celebrated for their devotion to Peace Constitution, that short-lived effort to
duty. make some cultural peace, stipulated that
Using the six dimensions of Table II, we 'The right of belligerence of the [Japan] state
can easily see how the chosen ones can will not be recognized'. Evidently Japan had
remain chosen without any transcendental forfeited that right - whereas others, presu-

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Cultural Violence 299

mably the victors, exited from the war with clear cases; capable of anything in a crisis.
the right intact, maybe even enhanced. Nazi Germany (the Nazi Odin/Wotan-God)
Where did that right of belligerence come was in the same category. The Soviet Union
from? There are feudal origins, a directunder Gorbachev - who sees himself as the
carry-over from the prerogative of the rexsuccessor to Lenin after 61 years of stagna-
gratia dei to have an ultimo ratio regis. Thetion - is probably still laboring under its call-
state can then be seen as an organizationing as a Chosen People, chosen by History
needed by the Prince to exact enough taxes(capital h) as the first nation-state to enter
(and, after 1793, conscripts) to pay forSocialism. And France has the same superi-
increasingly expensive armies and navies. ority complex - only that any idea of being
The state was created to maintain the mili- chosen by somebody would indicate that
there is something above France, an intoler-
tary rather than vice versa, as Krippendorff
(1985) maintains. But the state can also able
be idea. France chose herself, un peuple
seen as one of the successors to God, inherit-
elu, mais par lui-meme, exemplified by the
archetypal act when Napoleon was to be
ing the right to destroy life (execution), if not
crowned by the Pope in 1804. He took the
the right to create it. Many also see the state
as having the right to control the creationcrown
of from his hands and crowned himself.
life, exerting authority superior to that of the
pregnant woman. 4.3 Language
Combine nationalism with steep Self-
Certain languages - those with a Latin base
such as Italian, Spanish, French (and modern
Other gradients, and statism with the right,
even the duty to exercise ultimate power, English), but not those with a Germanic base
and we get the ugly ideology of the nation- such as German and Norwegian - make
state, another catastrophic idea. Killingwomenin invisible by using the same word for
war is now done in the name of the 'nation', the male gender as for the entire human
comprising all citizens with some shared eth-species. The important movement for non-
nicity. The new idea of democracy can sexist be writing (Miller & Smith, 1988) is a
accommodated with transition formulas such good example of deliberate cultural trans-
formation away from cultural violence. The
as vox populi, vox dei. Execution is also done
in the name of 'the people of the state X'; buttask must have looked impossible when some
like war has to be ordered by the State. Muchcourageous women got started, and yet it is
of the pro-life sentiment against abortion is already bearing fruit.
probably rooted in a feeling that abortion on Then there are more subtle aspects of lan-
guage where the violence is less clear, more
the decision of the mother erodes the power
monopoly of the state over life. If anti-abor- implicit. A comparison of basic features of
Indo-European languages with Chinese and
tion sentiment were really rooted in a sense
of sacredness of the fetus (homo res sacraJapanese (Galtung & Nishimura, 1983)
hominibus), then the pro-life people wouldbrings out certain space and time rigidities
also tend to be pacifists; they would beimposed by the Indo-European languages; a
against the death penalty, and be outraged at corresponding rigidity in the logical structure
the high mortality levels of blacks in the USAwith strong emphasis on the possibility of
arriving at valid inferences (hence the
and others around the world. Of course, the
priority for choice rather than life is another Western pride in being so 'logical'); a
type of cultural violence, based on a denial oftendency to distinguish linguistically be-
fetal life as human, making the fetus an 'it'.17tween essence and apparition, leaving room
for the immortality of the essence, and by
Combine the ideology of the nation-state
with a theologically based Chosen People
implication for the legitimacy of destroying
complex and the stage is set for disaster. what is only the apparition. However, this is
Israel (Yahweh), Iran (Allah), Japan (Ama- deep culture, the deeper layers of that bot-
terasu-okami), South Africa (a Dutch tom stratum in the violence triangle. The
'reformed' God), the United States (the relations to direct and structural violence
Judeo-Christian Yahweh-God) are relatively become much more tenuous.

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300 Johan Galtung

4.4 Art ably influenced the European image of Rus-

Let me make just one point, important for sia and the Soviet Union for centuries, and
the present emergence of a European Union still does, as intended slurs on either.
as the successor to the European Community
of 1967 (Galtung, 1989c, ch. 2). How does 4.5 Empirical Science
Europe understand itself? The story tied toOne example of cultural violence would be
the 'Europa' of Greek mythology is not veryneoclassical economic doctrine, understand-
helpful. The understanding of Europe as theing itself as the science of economic activity.
negation of the non-European environment Strongly influenced by the Adam Smith tra-
carries us much further. And that environ- dition, neoclassical economics now studies
ment at the time of the transition from the empirically the system prescribed by its own
Middle Ages to the Modern Period was the doctrines, and finds its own self-fulfilling pro-
gigantic Ottoman Empire to the east and the
phecies often confirmed in empirical reality.
One part of neoclassical dogma or 'conven-
south, reaching the walls of Vienna (1683),
conquering Syria and Egypt (1517), vassaliz-
tional wisdom' is trade theory based on 'com-
ing Tripolitania, Tunisia and Algeria after-
parative advantages', originally postulated
by David Ricardo, developed further by
wards, leaving only the Sultanate of Fez and
Morocco with the small Spanish HabsburgHeckscher and Ohlin and by Jan Tinbergen.
enclaves, two of them still there. The only
This is the doctrine that prescribes that each
non-Oriental (meaning Arab, Muslim) country should enter the world market with
environment was Russia, poor, vast in space those products for which that country has a
and time. Sleeping, but giant (Larsen, 1988, comparative advantage in terms of produc-
pp. 21, 23). tion factors.
Europe thus had to understand herself as In practice this means that countries well
the negation of the enemy to the south and endowed with raw materials and unskilled
the southeast. Thus developed the metaphor labor are to extract raw materials, while
of 'oriental despotism', still very prominent those well endowed with capital and techno-
in the European mind, to come to grips with logy, skilled labor and scientists, are to pro-
the 'environment'. Typical of the 'oriental cess them. And thus it was that Portugal gave
despot' was callousness and arbitrariness. up its textile industry and became a mediocre
Like the European Prince he killed: but he wine producer, whereas England got the sti-
ruled by his own whim, not by law. Sexually mulus, the challenge needed to develop her
he enjoyed an access (the harem) his Euro- industrial capacity still further. The conse-
pean colleagues could only approximate by quences of this doctrine in the form of
sneaking out at night to violate peasant girls. today's vertical division of labor in the world
So did Muslims not constrained by Christian are visible for most people to see. Structural
monogamy. In France a school of painting violence everywhere (Galtung, 1971,
emerged in the 19th century representing 1988b): among countries and within
oriental despotism in a setting of sex and/or countries.
violence. Henri Regnault's Execution With- Thus, the doctrine of comparative advan-
out Process and Eugene Delacroix's The tages serves as a justification for a rough
Death of Sardanapal are good examples. division of the world in terms of the degree of
Hegel, copied by Marx, also saw oriental processing which countries impart to their
despotism and oriental (or Asian) mode of export products. Since this is roughly propor-
production as negative, homogeneous, tionate to the amount of challenge they
stagnant. receive in the production process, the prin-
It belongs to this syndrome that the non- ciple of comparative advantages sentences
Arab part of the semicircle around Europe, countries to stay where the production-factor
Russia, also had to be seen in terms of orien- profile has landed them, for geographical
tal despotism. That 'despotism' could fit the and historical reasons. Of course, there is no
tsars as a description is perhaps less objec- law, legal or empirical, to the effect that
tionable - but 'oriental?' The figure has prob- countries cannot do something to improve

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Cultural Violence 301

their production profile - a basic point made violence. However, there is also another
by the Japanese economist Kaname Aka-approach: to explore the substratum of the
matsu.18 But to do so is not easy when there culture for its 'deep culture(s)', of which
are immediate gains to be made by not there may be several.19 We would be looking
changing the status quo, for those who ownat the roots of the roots, so to speak: the
the raw materials/commodities. And thus it cultural genetic code that generates cultural
is that the 'law' of comparative advantages elements and reproduces itself through
legitimizes a structurally intolerable statusthem. That this becomes very speculative is
not so problematic; it is in the nature of
quo. In short, this 'law' is a piece of cultural
violence buried in the very core of science to postulate deeper layers, spelling
economics. out implications, testing the hard core of the
theory around the ragged edges.
The cosmology concept is designed to har-
4.6 Formal Science bor that substratum of deeper assumptions
But surely this cannot be said of mathemat- about reality,2() defining what is normal and
ics? This is not so obvious. If mathematics is natural. Assumptions at this level of depth in
viewed as a formal game with one basic rule, the collective subconscious are not easily
that a theorem T and its negation - T cannot unearthed, not to mention uprooted. And
both be valid, then there may be violent yet, it is at this level that occidental culture
shows so many violent features that the
consequences. Even when mathematical
logic explores polyvalent logic, the tool used
whole culture starts looking violent. There is
chosenness, there are strong center-peri-
is bivalent logic with its strict line between
valid and invalid; tertium non datur. And itphery
is gradients. There is the urgency, the
apocalypse now! syndrome precluding the
easily seen that it has to be that way, infer-
ence being the mortar of the mathematical slow, patient building and enactment of
edifice, with modus ponens and modus tol- structural and direct peace. There is atomis-
lens being the key procedures. No inference tic, dichotomous thought with deductive
can be made with ambiguous truth values for chains counteracting the unity-of-means-
the antecedents or the inference (Galtung, and-ends. There is arrogance toward nature
1988c, ch. 4, esp. section 4.4). counteracting the unity-of-life. There is a
This means that mathematics disciplines usstrong tendency to individualize and rank
into a particular mode of thought highly com-human beings, breaking up the unity-of-
patible with black-white thinking and polari-man. And there is a transcendental, absolute
zation in personal, social and world spaces. God with awesome successors. The whole
The either-or character of mathematical culture possesses a tremendous potential for
thought makes it an exciting game: but violence
as a that can be expressed at the more
model for a highly dialectic human, social manifest cultural level and then be used to
and world reality it is far from adequate. justify
And the unjustifiable. That there is also
adequatio is the basic requirement forpeace cul- in the Occident, sometimes even ema-
ture, symbolic space, if it is to guide nating
us in from the Occident, is something of a
visioning a less violent potential reality. miracle, possibly due to the softer strands.
The problem is that this type of thinking
easily leads to a sense of hopelessness.
4.7 Cosmology Changing the cultural genetic code looks at
least as difficult as changing the biological
We return to the problem of the transition
from cultural violence to violent culture. As genetic code. Moreover, even if it were poss-
mentioned in section 1 above, such global ible, 'cultural engineering' might be a form of
violence as problematic as genetic engineer-
judgements could be arrived at by identifying
an extensive and diverse number of cultural ing is proving. Should it be left to 'chance' -
aspects, in religious and ideological thought,
meaning to those with power and privilege?21
in language and art, in empirical and formalThis is a very difficult and important field for
science; all of them serving to justify future peace research.

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302 Johan Galtung

5. Gandhi and Cultural Violence ing a social class or two for the bliss of the
What did Gandhi himself have to say about
upper classes even today.
these tricky problems, open as he was to The conclusion drawn by Gandhi from
exploring alternatives to both direct theseand two axioms was respect for the sacred-
ness of all life (hence vegetarianism) and
structural violence? His answer was to repro-
duce, from his ecumenism, two axioms that
acceptance of the precept 'take care of the
means and the ends will take care of them-
in a sense summarize Gandhism: unity-of-life
and unity-of-means-and-ends. The first selves'. Thus the unity-of-life doctrine is very
follows from the second if it is assumed that different from a doctrine of 'ecological
no life, and particularly no human life, can bebalance', since it means enhancing all life,
used as a means to an end. If the end is not just human life; and all human life, not
livelihood, then the means has to be just life-the categories chosen by some (to
enhancing. But how do we understand Gandhi, distorted or misunderstood) reli-
'unity'? A reasonable interpretation,gion using
or ideology. And the unity-of-means-
the ideas developed in the preceding and-ends would lead to a doctrine of synch-
sections, would be in terms of closeness, rony, calling for work on all issues simul-
against separation. In our mental universe alltaneously22 rather than the diachrony of one
forms of life, particularly human life, should big step that is assumed to trigger the force
enjoy closeness and not be kept apart bymotrice. Archetype: the Buddhist wheel
steep Self-Other gradients that drive wedgeswhere elements of thought, speech and
in social space. Any justification derivedaction tend to be at the same level of priority,
from the hard core of a culture, e.g. a calling not a Christian pyramid with more focus
as a Chosen People, would be rejected whenon some than others (e.g. faith vs. deeds)
it conflicted with this even higher, even(Galtung, 1988, ch. 1.1, esp. pp. 25f.).
'harder' axiom.
We can understand unity-of-means-and-
ends as bringing other mental elements, such 6. Conclusion
as acts, and facts brought about by acts, close
Violence can start at any corner in the direct-
together. They should not be kept separate structural-cultural violence triangle and is
by long causal chains that drive wedges easily
in transmitted to the other corners. With
the violent structure institutionalized and the
social time. To initiate long social sequences
leading to take-off or revolution, investing violent
in culture internalized, direct violence
industry or the industrial proletariat, is not
also tends to become institutionalized, repe-
good enough. The means must be goodtitive, in ritualistic, like a vendetta. This trian-
gular syndrome of violence should then be
themselves, not in terms of distant goals, way
down the road - as witnessed by the millions
contrasted in the mind with a triangular syn-
sacrificed on the altars of industrialism in the drome of peace in which cultural peace
name of 'growth/capitalism' and 'revolution/ engenders structural peace, with symbiotic,
socialism'. Justification derived from empiri- equitable relations among diverse partners,
cal confirmation, 'it works', is rejected when and direct peace with acts of cooperation,
it conflicts with this even higher, evenfriendliness and love. It could be a virtuous
'harder' axiom. rather than vicious triangle, also self-rein-
Any Self-Other gradient can be used forcing.
to This virtuous triangle would be
justify violence against those lower down on
obtained by working on all three corners at
the scale of worthiness; any causal chainthe
cansame time, not assuming that basic
be used to justify the use of violent meanschange
to in one will automatically lead to
obtain non-violent ends. Gandhi would be as changes in the other two.
skeptical of Marxist ideas of revolution and But does this inclusion of culture not broa-
hard work, of sacrificing a generation or twoden the agenda for peace studies considera-
for presumed bliss the day after tomorrow, asbly? Of course it does. Why should peace
he would of liberal/conservative ideas of studies be narrower than, for instance,
health studies (medical science)? Is peace
hard work and entrepreneurship, of sacrific-

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Cultural Violence 303

tion from one culture and resocialization into

easier than health, less complex? And how
another - including the very first socialization of the
about biology, the study of life; physics, the
young (defenseless) child. However, if culture is a
study of matter; chemistry, the study of the conditio sine qua non for a human being, we are
composition of matter; mathematics, the born with none (only predispositions), and incul-
study of abstract form - all of these are fairly cation is an act of violence, then we are faced with
broad. Why should peace studies be more the basic problem of education: is 'educate' a
transitive or intransitive verb? Of course it is both,
modest? Why draw borderlines at all in a related hermeneutically. Peaceful education,
field so terribly important in its conse- including socialization would probably imply expo-
quences, and also so attractive to the sure to multiple cultures and then a dialogue, as
inquisitive mind? If culture is relevant to argued below. Neither Christianity nor humanism is
good at this; in fact, we still do not know how to do
violence and peace, and surely it is, then only
it. It should be noted that to impose a culture on
the dogmatic mind will exclude it from ex- somebody, whether done directly or structurally, is
plorations as penetrating and tenacious as not what is meant here by cultural violence. Cultural
the countless studies devoted to the many aspects legitimizing that imposition, however, for
instance because the culture is 'higher' (monotheis-
aspects of direct and structural violence. The
tic, modern, scientific, etc.), would be violence built
only thing that is new is that the field opens into that culture, in other words, cultural violence.
for new areas of competence, such as the 'Empirical or potential legitimation of violence' is
humanities, history of ideas, philosophy, the key to cultural violence.
theology. In other words, an invitation to 3. We then schematically divide control mechanisms
into internal and external, positive and negative:
new disciplines to join the quest for peace, identifying 'internal, both positive and negative' as
and to established researchers in the field to
good and bad conscience respectively; external
retool - a little. positive as reward and external negative as punish-
In so doing, maybe peace research could ment. 'Internalization' is conscience deeply rooted
even make some contribution to founding a in the person system, 'institutionalization' is punish-
ment/reward deeply rooted in the social system.
major scientific enterprise still conspicuously Both serve to make the act come forth 'naturally,
absent from the pantheon of academic pur- normally, voluntarily'. This piece of elementary
suits, the science of human culture, 'culturo- social science may serve to locate cultural and struc-
logy'. Today the field is divided between tural violence centrally in general social science
theory construction.
'humanities' for 'higher' civilizations and cul-
4. For an attempt to compare the three systems (not
tural anthropology for 'lower' ones; with just Hitlerism and Stalinism, as is now very common
philosophy, history of ideas and theology under glasnost' revisionism), see Galtung (1984).
5. There are strong similarities built around shinto
filling in some pieces. Concepts like 'cultural
violence' span all of that, just as 'structural themes of chosenness. For an analysis see lenaga
(1978), particularly p. 154 for the concept of hakko
violence' spans the whole spectrum of social ichiu (the eight corners of the world under one
sciences. Peace research has to much to roof).
learn, so much to take, to receive. Perhaps
6. The easy approach is to dump all 'side-effects' at the
we shall also in due time have some contribu- doorsteps of some other disciplines demanding that
they shall clean it up conceptually, theoretically,
tions to make: in the spirit of diversity, and in practice - as economists are wont to do.
symbiosis and equity. 7. A document consisting of the Universal Declaration
of 1948, the two Convenants of 1966 and an
Optional Protocol. The Bill has not yet attained the
NOTES standing it deserves, among other reasons because
of US failure to ratify the Convenants.
1. Thus, 'cultural violence' follows in the footsteps of
8. Hence it is at this level environmental degradation
the concept of 'structural violence', introduced in
has to be counteracted, through de-industrializing
this journal over 20 years ago (Galtung, 1969). For a
and de-commercializing processes, not by convert-
recent very constructive critique and effort to de-
ing one type of pollution or depletion to another
velop the idea further see Roth (1988). A similar
through patchwork approaches to this major global
concept is introduced in Saner (1982).
problem.
2. There have been many efforts to create the 'new
9. Rather, it is almost incredible how peaceful that
man' (and woman?). In the West each new branch
border high up in the North has been between such a
of Christianity is an effort, so is humanism, so is
small and such a big country, supposed by some to
socialism. But any inculcation in others of any single
be eager to fill any 'power vacuum'.
culture is in itself an act of direct violence (meaning
10. This, of course, is the general approach taken by the
intended by the actor), usually implying desocializa-

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304 Johan Galtung

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 20. Cosmology is then defined, roughly, as 'the deep
in the SIPRI Yearbook and other publications; very cultural assumptions of a civilization, including the
useful as documentation at the surface level, but it general assumptions underlying the deep structures;
does not deepen the understanding sufficiently for defining the normal and natural'.
any real counter-measures to be imagined and 21. When does the culture, particularly the deep cul-
enacted. ture, have sufficient plasticity (Scholem) for the
11. These factors are very often held to be important inculture to be moulded, reshaped? In times of crises?
explaining Japanese aggressiveness, e.g. by Ben- After a deep trauma has been inflicted, including
edict (1972). lenaga (1978) also quotes these the trauma of inflicting deep traumas on others? We
factors. know little except that these are crucial questions.
12. When the tram passed the Imperial Castle in Tokyo, 22. Look at Gandhi's life: The political agenda he took
passengers used to stand up and bow toward the on was staggering - swaraj; the exploration of satya-
Emperor. And the shinto Yasukuni shrine is still agraha and sarvodaya; the uplift of the Indians in
major center of the national and nationalist con- South Africa, the harijans in India, the women; and
structions in Japan. After his party's defeat in the 23 the communal struggle between Hindus and Mus-
July 1989 elections, the new LDP Prime Minister, lims. At no point did Gandhi say: I will concentrate
Kaifu, did not visit the shrine on the anniversary of on one of these, and the rest will follow.
the capitulation 15 August 1945, well knowing that
the winds were blowing more from the left.
13. Nowhere have I seen a clearer example of such deep
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Human Needs: ADavid Antal & Johan
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JOHAN GALTUNG, born 1930, dr.hc.mult; founder of PRIO and Journal of Peace Research and
Editor (1964-75). Currently Olof Palme Professor in Stockholm and Professor of Peace and Cooper-
ation Research at the Universitit Witten-Herdecke. His works in peace studies include Essays in Peace
Research, vols. I-VI (Ejlers, 1975-88).

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