A call for many peacesWolfgang Dietrich and Wolfgang StzlThe question Is small beautiful? was central to the life and thought of Leopold Kohr1, to whom the 199 !ummer "cadem# at the $eace %enter &urg!chlaininghas beendedicated' ()enfroma 199*s perspecti)e there is nothing nostalgic or anachronistic about this' +n the contrar#, e)er since the social sciences ha)e reco)ered from the numbness of their complacent crisis of the 19,*s and embar-ed on a hectic search for new paradigms which would allow an interpretation of our perceptionof a postso)iet realit#., Kohr/s thoughts ha)e found their wa# into a larger debate which is ta-ing place around the concepts ofpostmodernityandpostmodernism0 often, though, withoutan#referencetoKohr/sname' Issuesofuni)ersalismand pluralism, of stabilit# and mobilit#, ofd#namism and deceleration areat least implicitl#present inmost ofthewor-beingdoneon societies, their conflictsandthetransformationof theseconflicts' Independent of thepositions assumedb#the participants inthis debate, and the interests b# which the# are guided, these seem to be -e# issues of our time' 1e would li-e to approach the questions of stabilit# and mobilit# and of uni)ersalism and pluralism b# discussing some of the -e# concepts of the peace discourse of the past #ears and their different meanings in modern and postmodern perspecti)es' This is not the place for an e2tensi)e discussion of postmodernityand postmodernism'34orthepurposesofthispaper we would li-e to clarif# at the outset what we mean when we spea- ofpostmodernityandpostmodernismwithout wantingtofurther contribute to the confusion around these concepts' 1ithpostmodernitywe refer toa part of anepochin humanhistor#, whilepostmodernismdenotesaparticular wa#of forming -nowledge' 54irst published as 6ietrich, 1olfgang and 1olfgang, !7t8l 9199:; " call for man# peaces, in Schlaining Working Papers/7, !tadtschlaining'1 !ummari8edinKohr, Leopold9199oodEewstothepagansespeciall#in!outhand %entral "merica' 1hen after the turn of the centur# the domination proDect ofci*ilisationturned outto bemuch less profitableto the (uropean elites than had been assumed, the label was changed once again' $assing through the intermediar# stages ofWhite !en8s 9urdeninthe &ritish(mpire, andethical politicsinthe 6utch colonial empire, the 19.*s and 3*s brought the new -e# concept of de*elopment'13The ci*ilising processwas something designed b# the (uropeanelites as anunconcealedforeignproDect for peoplein "frica' &eing the central e2ponents of a s#stemwhose inner wor-ings are based on d#namism and e2pansion, this is what the# had to do' In the process of standardising and in their costl# attempts of implementing thisci*ilising processthe# encountered the resistance of subsistent communities and societies' !uch self0refle2i)e societies, although not organised in a static fashion, ha)e a low and not necessaril# e2pansionistic readiness for change' In their persistent self0sufficienc# the# do not normall# stri)e for surplus or perfection' Inthiswa#the#turnedtheirbac-onthestandardised obDecti)es of modernit#onits wa#towards uni)ersalisationand e)adedcentralisedplanningandcontrol' 4romtheperspecti)eof colonialism and modernit#, this is anno#ing and e2pensi)e' 1hereas subsistent societiesareabout feeding, nursing, healing, educating, housing, and organising themsel)es autonomousl#, modernit# aims anthropolog# as an academic discipline based ona unilinearconceptionof histor#'1. >rauden8, Karlhein8 and Cans @ichael, !chindler 919,9:; Die deutschen :olonien "ugsburg'13 4or a more detailed discussion see 6ietrich, 1olfgang 9199:; Peripherie(ntegration und 0rieden, 1ien'.,Hat replacing precisel# these acti)ities b# machine0dri)en, large0scale and standardised processes' "lthough 19th centur# modernit# departed from the simplistic notion of the ci*ilised ha)ing to ci*ilise the unci*ilised the administrationsof theimperial centresnoticedearl#onthat the# wouldo)erburdenthemsel)eswithsuchaproDect' The#therefore shifted the responsibilit# for the implementation of the o,;ecti*es ofci*ilisation as determined b# modernit# awa# from the White !en8s 9urden b# redefining them as the natural de*elopment o,;ecti*es of theunci*ilised.&ehind this change of labels, one encounters a shrewd act of intellectual )iolence' In the old paradigm of ci)ilisation, it was plain to the subDects and )ictims of the ci)ilising process that this was a foreign proDect' introducing the de)elopmentidea, thenotionwasconstructedthat thepathtothe norms determined b# the ci)ilisator# paradigm was at the cradle of all people, communities and societies b# )irtue of their mere e2istence, i'e' that the#themsel)es andb#wa#of their natural destination had to de*elop into this direction, and that the ci*ilised could, at best, help them in doing so' +nce the obDecti)e, i'e' the wa# of life and the truths of modernit#, had been determined, the former sa*ages were no longer able to decide where their path would lead' "s theunderde*elopedthe#were obligedtowal-, or rather to hasten, the one0wa# street of de)elopment towards the north "tlantic lifest#le, the onl# right and possible path'The free decision of people, communities and societies to de*elopwhich e)er wa# corresponded to their inclinations, possibilitiesandnecessitieswasdissol)edasasocial realit#b#a colonial act of intellectual )iolence, onl# to return a little later in the shape of uni)ersal human rights' This is nothing more than a logical process, for reducing, formalising and processing human dignit# into humanrightswasfromthe)er#beginningthestor#of asocial notice ofcomplaint'$recisel#those )alues andgoods which,in the perception of contemporaries, got lost in the modernising process recei)ed the status of rights'1B Cowe)er, this proclamation became a meresimulationafter thede)elopment ideahadbeenintroduced' 1hen Carr# Truman,1reat La-es':indokidenotes something fundamentall#different fromneorealist orinstitutionalist concepts with which it is incompatible, and different from the modern concept of peace' The latter often leads us to see anom# and chaos where, if )iewed from close quarters, there is a good measure of )ernacular organisationalformand a considerable amountofsocialcreati)it# and s-ill of impro)isation' Fa)aneseethicsisalsobasedontheassumptionthat the highest )alue which humans should respect in all their relationships is harmony' This is true of relationships to nature, to other people, and to super0nature' In Fa)anese ethics the cosmos, in all its dimensions, represents anorderedwhole' Carmon#reigns when e)er# element is in its proper place' Carmon# becomes a s#non#m for peace? it means damai in &ahasa Indonesia, the official language of Indonesia, and in9ahasa !alaysia, to which it is almost .B Illich, I)an 919,.:; 1om >echt auf 7emeinheit, Ieinbe-, p' 11H'.< 4riedli, Iichard 9199altung,.,who)iews(asternworld )iews as potentiall# more peaceful than occidental ones' Eow it could be as-ed whether societies with an energeticall# oriented peace concept can appl# the principle of co0optionCapropriaciHnDasapromisingstrateg#forthedefenceand strengthening of the self also in the case of modernit#' 4or modern western technolog# is not simpl# a thing, a tool' @odern technolog#doesnot simpl#denoteaproduct/sparticular wa#of functioning or its use? it is, instead, closel# related to the mode of production' 4or modern technolog#, the alienation of men from their place, andtheir transformationintolabour force is a necessar# requirement' $roductioninanabstract, non0personal, global space .4or a more e2tensi)e discussion see 6ietrich, 1olfgang 9199esellschaft in >uatemala, in &ir-, 4ridolin 9ed':;7uatemala < Ende ohne &uf,ruch oder &uf,ruch ohne Ende@, 4ran-furt'.,>altung, Fohan 9199H:; LQi)ilisierung der Internationalen &e8iehungen?, in; M!4K 9ed':;Politik derEinmischung ineiner tur,ulentenWelt,6ialog .9, @7nster, p' 1,'.9