Projecting Peace Through History and Museums (2013)

Both Immanuel Kant (1795) and Kenneth Boulding (Peace & Change 14:461-469, 1989) have argued the need for a new kind of “universal history” to replace the traditional, narrow, and nationalist approach—a main ingredient in the complex of factors leading to war. During the Cold War, a specialized field of history—peace history—emerged. The article highlights some of the achievements of contemporary peace history and peace research including the first publication of such essential reference works as the Biographical Dictionary of Modern Peace Leaders (Josephson, Biographical Dictionary of Modern Peace Leaders. Greenwood, Westport, CT, 1985) and the World Encyclopedia of Peace (1986). A parallel development is the growth of peace museums which provide a much-needed complement and alternative to the numerous war museums. Peace history and peace museums are timely approaches for promoting education about peace and nonviolent conflict resolution.