Social management in cities: violence and peace culture

Abstract

The difficulties faced by social management in cities reflect the inadequacies of traditional public policies, formulated for a residual poverty and presenting a compensatory nature, considering the demands of increasing social inequity, the rupture of social bonds and the epidemic of violence. It is in the cities, close to the communities, where this pressure is exerted and where there is the possibility and the opportunity to introduce new values, such as peace culture and non-violence, orienting a new social policy. In order to overcome traditional practices ¿ that sanction social injustice and are fragmented and incapable of dealing with complex situations ¿ it is necessary to establish an alliance between the government and society, which will put on the social agenda the commitment to ease the other¿s suffering ¿ solidarity ¿ and will be based on the peaceful resolution of conflicts. From the manager¿s standpoint, rethinking social management based on those values involves decisions such as equalizing social and economic policies, stimulating transdisciplinary analysis of situations, widening the scope of the government¿s cooperative and intersectoral actions, articulating, in social commitment networks, governmental and non-governmental organizations, guaranteeing that the most vulnerable groups can voice their interest, and, most of all, trusting that education for peace and non-violence will make a better world.