World disorder and peace research: a sociological, postnationalist reading of the pathway to sustainable peace

This paper offers a sociological reading of the concept of world orderwithin the peace research debate, mindful of the complexity ofsystemic factors that influence changing interpretations. Byaddressing the clash of thought currents that have seen‘traditionalist’ peace researchers interpret peace as a phenomenonopposed to conflict, while ‘progressive’ researchers view it as asocial and sustainable development capable of mitigating conflictwhile containing disruptive aspects, this study critically reconstructsutopian conflict theories within a complex mosaic, which leadsfrom conflict to a new vision of a peaceful world. In this view, thereis no longer room for a concept of world order as expression of anarbitrary system of dominance, but a tendency to read social realitythrough the lenses of the complexity theories as a worldwidedisorder. Following giants such as Kenneth Boulding and JohanGaltung, this paper investigates the four interconnected pillars ofthe new worldview – peace, society, economy, and nature – andthe role played by conflict in defining its identity. Pursuing a visionthat seeks to recompose the contents of positive peace andsustainable development, the researcher will try to understand thedirection taken by the new sustainability paradigms.