1. Decolonising Peace in the Anthropocene: Introduction Towards an Alternative Understanding of Peace and Security

The 27th General Conference of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) was held in Ahmedabad in November 2018. Mahatma Gandhi’s political truth, sacrifice, nonviolent resistance, selfless service and cooperation were linked to the present peace and security concerns, especially on behalf of researchers from Asia, Africa and Latin America. The colonial burdens imposed on the Global South have increased through neoliberal globalisation of over-indebtedness to financial capitalists, the IMF and the World Bank. Multiple internal conflicts have emerged, often aggravated by promoted proxy wars, the illegal arms trade and violent armed struggles between neighbouring countries, often in the interests of industrialised nations. These complex processes have been aggravated during the new phase of Earth’s history, the Anthropocene, with catastrophic climate extremes, where again the Global South is highly unprotected and has limited resources to adapt and protect its population. Therefore, security and peace research require deep decolonisation processes, starting from bottom-up and including the most vulnerable – generally women, girls and ethnic minorities – who are victims of disasters, war crimes and intrafamilial violence. Large global military budgets of almost two trillion USD have in many countries further frozen the public resources for health, food and education that are crucial for sustainable human development. This deeply embedded patriarchal and dominant behaviour reinforces the internal colonialism, and also the mechanisms of power and control exerted by external forces, postcolonial countries and neoliberal corporations. To overcome this perverse circle of multiples crises – health, human, social, economic, political, environmental, military, cultural and civilizational risks – in which the world has become entangled, a decolonised, engendered, sustainable and participative security and peace analysis may contribute to a different way of thinking. This includes gender equity and an alternative socio-green economy that may promote transition processes to decarbonised and dematerialised consumption, where everybody has the right to live in a culturally and naturally diverse society that may restore the exploited and destroyed Mother Earth and the societies in the Global South.