Social peace: a conflict-theoretical concept

The lecture explains a scientific understanding of ‘social peace’ based on theories of social conflict. It develops a concept of ‘social peace’ that goes beyond the traditional ideas of peace and conflict research on the contrast between peace and violence. Instead, it focuses primarily on practice-oriented questions that are more pressing than ever in view of the radicalisation of socio-political disputes and the associated dangers of escalating social conflicts.
The concept of ‘peace’ is generally associated with greater expectations than just the absence of war. Thus, ‘social peace’ can also be expected to protect society from the escalation of its conflicts. Because the state's monopoly on the use of force plays an important role here, the understanding of ‘social peace’ cannot be primarily orientated towards the absence of violence.