Proof-of-Concept: Visions of Peace and Nonviolence in Pop Culture

Violence permeates contemporary pop culture and, unsurprisingly, it is often put forward as the ultimate solution to any difficult interpersonal or sociopolitical problem. As a corrective, this volume draws out visions of peace and nonviolence in pop culture and discusses them at the theoretical, practical, and pedagogical levels. Theoretically, it uses pop culture as a lens for interrogating the nature of negative and positive peace, the constructs of violence, and the necessary and sufficient conditions for peacebuilding and pacifism. Practically, this volume uses depictions of peace and nonviolence to provide proof of concept that it is possible to peacefully bring about a more just and peaceful world. Pedagogically, it underlines how pop culture can be an effective tool for teaching theories and practices of peacebuilding, as well as how pacifism is linked to other liberationist ideas.