Colonialism, peace and sustainable social cohesion in the Barents Region : creating theoretical and conceptual platforms for peace building and restorative action

Abstract

This study presents a conceptual and theoretical framework for peace building and restorative action in the Arctic Barents Region where the Sami of the Scandinavian region live. Based on Johan Galtung´s theory of peace, the study approaches the issue of peace building and restorative action by considering the history of colonialism and the meaningful lessons drawn from it as a pedagogic field and with human development as the goal. Central to this imperative is the issue of cognitive justice. The study explores the peace potential in including indigenous knowledge systems and the ethics embedded in them in the developmental discourse going forward. The word “ethics” is explored within this imperative, with the study arguing that developing an ethical rationality compatible with the goal of peace and human development in this context is not primarily about the mastering of rules and principles or adjusting to modernity´s mores but about something far more fundamental, namely, the work of re-establishing the esteem for the Other – the very fundamental condition of human community – in a context in which respect for the intrinsic value, dignity and individual autonomy of others and therein their active participation in the world, are under severe strain. The remote space that is devoted to this fundamental relation with the Other in today's leading moral-philosophical discourse thus stresses the need to open up new “cognitive spaces” so that wisdom may emanate more freely from non-western traditions in order to expand the range of ethical rationality. This argument is supported by hermeneutical theory, especially that of Gadamer, the core of which is that communicative acknowledgement of the Other must be based exclusively on the Other’s premises, where the world of the Other is prioritised as the key for understanding oneself. The arbitrative lesson of hermeneutics is that true comprehension is not possible by evading the Other. It is at this point that Levinas’ analysis of the “face” becomes central: The Other is experienced “face-to-face”, meaning “without horizons” and refers to an experience before my will and freedom and which implies that I transcend myself when I acknowledge my responsibility for my Self as the responsibility for the Other. The study concludes that building peace by restoring indigenous systems of trust and hospitality is vital in any attempt to cope with current difficulties and for moving forward in a restorative paradigm.