What actually is violence? Why does it appear so intractable? Is violence constitutive of human nature? Can we understand our present condition without referring to the violence of our past? Do we all share a certain desire for violence? Why do we find the spectacle so compelling? Are peaceful visions of human co-habitation merely idealistic? Can violence be justfied if it results in a better future? Is all violence wrong? Under what circumstances (if any) do pacifistic strategies bring about genuine political change? What does violence ultimately tell us about the human condition?
Violence is undoubtedly a highly complex phenomenon that defies neat description. It comes in many different forms and is dependent on highly contingent circumstances. It is mutable. It is adaptable. Sometimes it is banal. While at times it is reasoned with intellectual rigour. It can be spontaneous, though more often than not it is carried out with ruthless calculation. Violence may be destructive. Yet on occasions it changes the entire direction of history. It can sweep up entire populations into a frenzied assault, whilst leaving spectators frozen in the trauma of the moment. It offers no simple narrative. Nor for that matter does it provide us with clear solutions.
For these challenging reasons, the problem of violence has pre-occupied the attention of the world’s greatest thinkers. Co-directed by Dr. Brad Evans and Professor Terrell Carver (University of Bristol) This dedicated section introduces the most important of these canonical figures. The section features key-note lectures by recognised authorities, short biographies, along with selected bibliographies to inform specialist and non-specialist audiences alike. The current list of contributors includes:
- Hannah Arendt (Professor Kimberley Hutchings, LSE)
- Zygmunt Bauman (Professor Keith Tester, University of Hull)
- Judith Butler (Dr. Jelke Boesten, University of Leeds)
- Jacques Derrida (Professor Gregg Lambert, Syracuse University)
- Frantz Fanon (Professor Lewis Gordon, Temple University)
- Michel Foucault (Emeritus Professor Michael Dillon, Lancaster University)
- Niccolo Machiavelli (Dr. Elizabeth Frazer, Oxford University)
- Friedrich Nietzsche (Professor Julian Reid, University of Lapland)
- Paul Virilio (Dr. Mark Lacy, Lancaster University)
- Slavoj Žižek (Dr. Paul Taylor, University of Leeds)