Institutional Violence: A Missing Link in Peace Studies

Abstract The field of peace studies’ foundational definitions of violence, namely, Galtung’s triad of direct, cultural, and structural violence present in Peace Studies 101 curricula worldwide, inadvertently obstructs the ability to identify and address wrongdoing. This paper introduces a concept of institutional violence that captures cases where causes of structural violence are attributable. Unlike structural violence, which is systemic and faceless by definition, institutional violence involves attributable actors working within rational-legal institutions who directly enact policies or practices that create or reinforce the mass-generational debasements constituting structural violence. Paradigmatic cases of France’s imposed reparations on Haiti, redlining in the United States, and residential schools in Canada are used to illustrate the concept. By not explicitly naming and addressing institutional violence, we may reinforce structural violence as an inherent part of the social fabric. An extended concept of institutional violence provides extended questions, sites, and methods for studying peace.