Summary
Elise Biorn-Hansen was born in Oslo, Norway but moved to the United States while still an infant. She and her family were greatly affected by the outbreak of World War II and the German invasion of Norway. Elise became strongly convinced by living through the WWII years that violence was not the answer to the world’s problems and that if even her peaceful homeland was at risk, violence was truly a systemic world concern. In her youth, she became active in anti-war activities and converted to a historic peace church, the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). It was at a Quaker meeting that she met her future husband, Kenneth Boulding (1910–1993), a highly respected English economist who would collaborate extensively with Elise on her peace work.
The Bouldings raised five children, with Elise serving as both homemaker and activist. Her writing on the foundations of peace would reflect her valuation of women, children and family in the peace process. She believed the family unit, and especially the role of women within that unit, was crucial to the global peace movement. After working at Iowa State College (where she received her Masters degree in Sociology) and at the University of Colorado at Boulder, she and Kenneth were invited to become Scholars in Residence at Dartmouth College after Elise completed her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Michigan. While at Dartmouth, she chaired the Sociology Department and developed the nation’s first Peace Studies program there. She is credited with greatly advancing the academic study of peace through her work at Dartmouth.
Boulding held many leadership positions in peace and social justice related groups, from chairing the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) to creating the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) to work with the United Nations through UNESCO and the University of the United Nations. She is considered to be one of the most influential peace researchers and activists of the 20th century. On June 11, 2000 the Peace Abbey, in Sherborn, Massachusetts, awarded Elise Boulding with the Courage of Conscience award.
Read more about this topic: Elise M. Boulding
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