Theories of Violence

LIT 651S

Violence is a capacious concept that differs widely in terms of the context of its deployment. It can refer, for example, to expressions of state and legal authority, policing, and carceral practices; it can take on symbolic and epistemic forms in terms of processes of racialization, structures of social exclusion, and forms of bodily regulations; it can reflect the everyday enactment of personal injuries, entitlements, and power differentials; or it can designate the emancipatory force of revolutions, uprisings, and strikes. This course will attempt to explore these various facets of the concept of violence from a number of different disciplinary standpoints — including political philosophy, social theory, historical sociology, postcolonial studies, and critical race theory.
Curriculum Codes
  • CCI
  • EI
  • SS
Cross-Listed As
  • HISTORY 651S
  • ICS 524S
Typically Offered
Occasionally