Conceptualizing Peace, Security and Development: A Critical Discourse

This book is a product of a professorial inaugural lecture given to the Kenyan public, scholars and students. It critically attempts to examine the concepts Peace, Security, and Development. In the process it unveils the relationships, if any, among the three concepts. Peace, is understood to be not only the absence of direct and physical violence, but more importantly, the absence of structural violence connoting social justice and social cohesion. On the other hand, security is not just the absence of military threats to a state's core national interests, but more significantly entails the absence of socio-economic and political threats to the interests and well-being of individuals and communities. Development, consequently, becomes the direct by-product as well as the sum-total of our reconceptualizations of peace and security. This book thematically therefore, addresses the significance of the sub-field of Development Politics that highlights the influence of political variables and values on the overall development process. Such concerns are topical to comprehending development challenges, problems and opportunities in the Global South.