Everyday Peace Power

Abstract

The issue of power is central to everyday peace and all other types of peace. The chapter discusses the dominance of orthodox explanations of power that often rest on coercion. It posits that everyday peace is, in itself, a form of power: Everyday Peace Power (EPP). In order to see everyday peace as a form of power, we need to look beyond orthodox explanations of power (‘power over’) and instead see more emancipatory forms of power such as ‘power to’ or ‘power with’. In this view, there are multiple forms of power, and power is an assemblage within which individuals and those on the margins sometimes have agency. This liberating switch allows us to see how everyday pro-peace and pro-social actions, stances, and logics can pave the way for the disruption of violent conflict.