Events

Abstract: Violence is a core concept for a theory of society.  An analysis of violence is crucial for understanding gender inequality and coloniality as regimes of inequality.  Too often in social theory, violence has been either dispersed into an over-general notion of harm or treated as if it were derivative from other forms of power.  Violence should be conceptualised as an institutional domain alongside those of economy, polity, and civil society.  The inclusion of violence is crucial for theorising macro level changes in society, not least that of the contemporary authoritarian turn.  The paper reviews and challenges classic and contemporary sociological theories in relation to violence. It anchors the theoretical developments in empirical analyses of trafficking in human beings and of violence against women and girls. It shows the significance of this approach for the analysis of contemporary societal developments, including authoritarianism.

The Sociology Seminar Series for Trinity Term is convened by Jasmin Abdel Ghany and Nontokozo Langwenya. For more information about this or any of the seminars in the series, please contact sociology.secretary@nuffield.ox.ac.uk.