Sicherheit neu denken

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Abstract Christian peace initiatives were without doubt one of the most important facets of the new peace movement, which had a decisive impact on the Federal Republic of Germany during the early eighties. This study highlights the societal causes and effects of the movement’s demonstrations with the aid of the analytical concept of ‘security’.

In this way, the author demonstrates that, by using an extended and demilitarised notion of security, Christian peace organisations were able to suggest numerous alternatives to the idea of the “spirit, logic and practice of deterrence”, which were often fundamentally different to the traditional approaches adopted by the Federal government and NATO. An analysis of these differences, which were mostly based on contrasting evaluations of nuclear weapons and the conflict between East and West, provides new insights into the relationship between the processes of far-reaching social change in the Federal Republic and the mass protests that occurred around 1980 which were intended to promote peace.