Continuities in the work of Johan Galtung

Johan Galtung was an unusually productive scholar over a period of more than 60 years. His work changed over time, and it is tempting to distinguish between a Galtung Phase I and Phase II. In Phase I, he was an ambitious and competent academic with a double education in mathematics and sociology, with an empirical orientation, writing for academic journals and book publishers. In Phase II, his work became more partisan. He wrote for more peripheral publications, cited himself more and other scholars less, and became more interested in subverting invariances than establishing them. Despite this, I argue that several main themes are found throughout his long publication career. These include a nomothetic perspective, a structural approach extending across levels of social organization, a quest for equality, a search for an improved concept of peace, and an interest in the policy implications of research.