AN2106/3106:03 ANTHROPOLOGY OF VIOLENCE

Week One Introductory Lecture

Some researchers shrink from the analysis of violence. Reasons: Psychological Avoiding a research topic that triggers horror and repulsion oral !aced "ith acts of terri#le violence$ ho" is it possi#le to remain %scientifically neutral&$ to speak'"rite dispassionately a#out the unspeaka#le( Intellectual )iolence *eg massacre+ defies understanding. It appears to have no %sense& nor to %serve& any purpose *mad+

Anthropolog !"l #$%&t on& ,o" do people give meaning to and -ustify collective violence( ,o" can collective violence #e e.plained( Is it a matter of human nature( If$ violent conflict is not simply natural and inevita#le #ut socially and culturally constructed$ then "hat are the social and cultural factors that generate violence( What is the relationship #et"een political systems and collective violence( What sorts of social mechanisms'factors might suppress the intensification of violence or provide for peaceful resolution(

In "hat "ay can violence #e a mechanism of the social order rather than a symptom of the #reakdo"n of social order(

C$lt$r% /he centrality of cultural issues to the study of conflict and violence /his is not a su#-ect a#out ho" cultural differences promote violence0

We e.amine the historically and culturally distinctive settings in "hich conflict occurs.

/o understand violence "e must understand the cultural frame"orks in "hich actions occur and that render these actions meaningful.

1onflict is an organising principle of society.

Con'l !t (& V ol%n!% It is important to make a distinction #et"een conflict and violence. 1onflict is not a synonym for violence. It is "hat "e 2O "ith the conflict that produces violence. /here are different "ays people respond to conflict3 violence is only one possi#le response

C$lt$r"l Con&tr$!t& Societies construct meanings for violence that mask its conse4uences and convince people that it is right and proper /echnocratic language 51lean #om#s6 Using such terminology does not have the emotional fallout that would result if it were clear one was talking about plans for mass murder, mangled bodies, and unspeakable human suffering

1ohn$ 1. 789:. Se. and death in the rational "orld of defense intellectuals. Signs 7;*<+: =9:>:79 http:''""".ic.ucsc.edu'?rlipsch'pol7:8'1ohn.pdf

V ol%n!% "n) *%+$"l I,"g%rSe.ual imagery is part of the "orld of "arfare. %@oth the military itself and the arms manufacturers are constantly e.ploiting the phallic imagery and promise of se.ual domination that their "eapons to conveniently suggest& *1ohn 789:: =8<+ ,o" does this imagery function to make it possi#le for strategic planners and other defense intellectuals to do their maca#re "ork( Such imagery is a "ay of minimiAing the seriousness of militaristic endeavours and of denying their deadly conse4uences.

Con!%pt& o' ( ol%n!% )iolence is a quality that "e attri#ute to a thing or a person or a phenomenon.

7. actual physical force #y one individual causing harm or in-ury to another individual. ;. ver#al and emotional a#use B. acts of omission <. sorcery C. violence em#edded in systems of po"er$ institutions$ state structures *structural violence+
Political violence: the use of force for political ends Structural violence: the violence that is part of a society *a social system or a social order+ Personal violence: using force for individual ends

Pol t !"l V ol%n!% . C ( l ) &o/%) %n!%0 T%rror &, /errorism: A mode of lo" intensity "arfare fought #y people "ith limited access to instruments of violence "ho need to strike at targets "ith a measure of surprise and secrecy.

/errorism attacks the foundations of ordinary life. /his is its terror.

*tr$!t$r"l V ol%n!% A form of violence that inheres or is endemic to a social system as a function of a structured ine4uality in that system. mem#ership in clu#s restricted to certain social classes access to education or even to a seat on a #us suffrage *the right to vote+ kno"ledge a#out health and access to health services

https:''""".youtu#e.com'"atch(vDECFeP; Ad)A

P%r&on"l V ol%n!% A highly varied e.pression of individual character and temperament in conte.ts "here most often the victim and perpetrator are kno"n to each other. 2omestic violence$ a#use *se.ual and other"ise+$ #ullying G intimidation Rape$ rage$ or personal attack "here the perpetrator'victim are not kno"n Sorcery > the enactment of harm #y mystical means is a form of personal violence.

Po1%r "n) *%+$"l ( ol%n!% )iolence of a specifically se.ualised nature /he deli#erate use of se. as a "eapon to demonstrate po"er over$ and to inflict pain and humiliation upon$ another human #eing.

Se.ual violence does not have to include direct physical contact #et"een perpetrator and victim: threats$ humiliation and intimidation

any societies implicitly *or even e.plicitly+ tolerate and condone se.ually violent #ehaviour under specific circumstances.

*%+$"l V ol%n!% "n) 2"r In situations of conflict$ the risk of se.ual violence increases dramatically Rape may #e used #y opposing forces as an instrument of terror or as a sym#ol of victory. @et"een ;CH$HHH and <HH$HHH "omen "ere raped during the 78:; "ar for independence in @angladesh. @et"een ;H$HHH and CH$HHH uslim "omen "ere raped in @osnia

In R"anda$ it is #elieved that every surviving female had #een raped. Some survivors report that their persecutors told them that they had #een allo"ed to live so that they might Idie of sadnessI.

E,/o) %) V ol%n!% Struggle for po"er carried out on$ and "ith$ human #odies Jsta#lishing control over #odies as means of esta#lishing and protecting social #oundaries. 1hastity: sym#olic of caste'ethnic purity

Th% 'or, th% ( ol%n!% t"3%& & & gn ' !"nt /he techni4ues of killing and the #odily sites upon "hich violence is enacted are neither haphaAard nor accidental

Th% 4o)- "& " 4"ttl%' %l) the practice of political violence entails the production, e change, and ideological consumption of bodies! *!eldman 7887:8+

/o different degrees$ every act of violence #ears elements of the political$ the structural and the personal. /he task of the social scientist is to unpack this comple.ity "ithout reducing the act to any one dimension.

oreover$ and this is a central point in this su#-ect$ our task is not one of reducing the act$ or all the acts$ to a simple>minded idea of human nature.

E+pl"n"t on& 'or V ol%n!% ,uman nature genetics'neurology'chemistry'physiology Social conditions political'economic'historical Po"er relations *social relations of ine4uality+ class'race'gender 1ulture cultural #eliefs and practices

Is Aggression a part of human nature( Whilst a #iological component to violence need not #e ruled out$ attempts to e.plain violence only in terms of nature$ #iology or evolution over>simplify a comple. phenomenon Imply that it lies #eyond human control.

Thr%"t& o' V ol%n!% /"o vie"s: /hreats of violence o#tain unconsciously *natural selection+

/hreats of violence are a product of human imagination K a symbol of real violence

5Lkno"ledge a#out the uncontrolla#ility of violence underpins the connection #et"een the threatened and the real and not natural selection and the drive for species preservation6 *Riches 7898: ;;+ Aggr%&& on (& 2"r'"r% 52uring human evolution$ restraint and limited interpersonal aggression have #een favoured #y selective forces over more e.treme aggression. /his assessment pertains to interpersonal aggression" If "e shift the focus to "arfare$ neither the observable facts nor the application of evolutionary principles supports the notion that war is an evolutionary adaptation.6 !ry *;HH=:;7:>;79+

H"nn"h Ar%n)t 51606 7 1689: Merman Fe"ish political philosopher #est kno"n for her study of the origins of totalitarianism *78C9+ and for her account of the 78=7 trial in Ferusalem of the NaAi death camp organiser Adolf Jichmann.

Arendt&s essay #n $iolence *78=8+ e.plores the phenomenon of violence as it has #een understood *or not+ in the history of "estern thought.

Arendt insists on the need to distinguish #et"een violence and po"er In itself the e.ercise of po"er is not violence )iolence is not a primitive form of po"er Arendt argues that the opposite of violence is not non>violence$ #ut po"er.

Po1%r "n) V ol%n!% )iolence derives from vis *Latin+ strength Po"er derives from the same Latin root as potential *potens+. Potential derives from the roots potis %a#le& and esse %to #e&. 5Po"er corresponds to the human a#ility not -ust to act$ #ut to act in concert6 *Arendt p.<<+. Movernment #y pure violence$ is only "hen po"er is #eing lost.

every decrease in power is an open invitation to violence % if only because those who hold power and feel it slipping from their hands, be they the government or be they the governed, have always found it difficult to resist the temptation to substitute violence for it! Arendt *78=8:9:+

http:''""".youtu#e.com'"atch(vDksOL"N<,"iA

Neil Whitehead speaks to students a#out aspects of violence

http:''""".youtu#e.com'"atch(vD#!O9.2L2!P<

Steven Pinker intervie"