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Dynamics of Violence

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Elwert, G., Feuchtwang, S., Neubert, D. (Eds.) (1999). Dynamics of Violence. Processes of Escalation and De-Escalation in Violent Group Conflicts. Duncker & Humblot. https://doi.org/10.3790/978-3-428-49957-1
Elwert, Georg; Feuchtwang, Stephan and Neubert, Dieter. Dynamics of Violence: Processes of Escalation and De-Escalation in Violent Group Conflicts. Duncker & Humblot, 1999. Book. https://doi.org/10.3790/978-3-428-49957-1
Elwert, G, Feuchtwang, S, Neubert, D (eds.) (1999): Dynamics of Violence: Processes of Escalation and De-Escalation in Violent Group Conflicts, Duncker & Humblot, [online] https://doi.org/10.3790/978-3-428-49957-1

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Dynamics of Violence

Processes of Escalation and De-Escalation in Violent Group Conflicts

Editors: Elwert, Georg | Feuchtwang, Stephan | Neubert, Dieter

Sociologus. Beihefte / Supplements, Vol. 1

(1999)

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Abstract

Violence is embedded in social structure. It follows specific dynamics which make it unpredictable for the individual case but calculable as a social phenomenon - this is the central message of this reader.

To lay persons violence may appear as irruption or the inhuman into a human world. The broad comparison of social, anthropological, and sociological case studies from Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America shows, however, that motives and forms of violence are patterned. Each pattern has its own dynamic of escalation and de-escalation which makes prediction difficult for the individual case. As part of these dynamics appear also restraints to the escalation called inhibitors. The study of these does not promise the construction of violence-free societies but it might allow for targetting interventions for peace in a more accurate manner.

An important element of these studies is the systematic analysis of the difference between the constructed outside appearance of violence and the dynamic system which reproduces it. Thus cultural strategies of wealth accumulation, prestige acquisition, and healing come to the foreground. Contributors to this volume include Alber, Erdmute; Allen, Tim; Elwert, Georg; Feuchtwang, Stephan; Grohs, Gerhard; Helbing, Jürg; Neubert, Dieter; Schmidt, Heike; Schwandner-Sievers, Stephanie; Strecker, Ivo; v. Trotha, Trutz; Waldmann, Peter.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Acknowledgement 5
Contents 7
Georg Elwert, Stephan Feuchtwang, and Dieter Neubert: The Dynamics of Collective Violence – An Introduction 9
1. Types of Collective Violence 10
2. Warring or Oscillating Violence as a Normal State of Affairs 12
3. War Catastrophes, Exceptional or Escalating Violence 16
4. The Motives and Aims of CoIIective VioIence 20
5. CoIIective Violence in Modernity 23
6. Processes of De-Escalation 27
I. The Logic of Violence – Theoretical Approaches 33
Trutz von Trotha: Forms of Martial Power: Total Wars, Wars of Pacification, and Raid. Some Observations on the Typology of Violence 35
Introduction 35
1. What is War? 36
2. Total War in Stateless Societies and Highly Industrialised Nation-States 43
3. 'Limited' and 'Unlimited' Wars of Pacification: The Case of German Colonial Wars in Africa 45
4. German Colonial Wars in Africa: Were They Total Wars? 49
5. What is Raid? 54
6. Towards a Theoretical Ethnography of Violence 58
Peter Waldmann: Societies in Civil War 61
Introduction 61
1. Recurring Conditions of Civil Wars 63
2. Immediate Consequences of Civil Wars 66
3. Auto-Dynamics of Violent Processes 70
4. Repercussions of the Auto-Dynamics on other Spheres of Society 76
5. The Lacking Function, Meaning and Sense of Civil Wars 82
Georg Elwert: Markets of Violence 85
Introduction 85
1. Markets of Violence as the Reproductive System of Warlords 86
2. Partial Markets and Market Strategies as Elements of an Economic System 88
3. Stabilising Markets of Violence 93
4. The Origins of Markets of Violence 95
5. The Demise of Markets of Violence 97
6. Epilogue: Are There Political Options to Promote Peace from the Outside? 100
7. Conclusion 101
Jürg Helbling: The Dynamics of War and Alliance Among the Yanomami 103
Introduction 103
1. War in a System of Anarchy 105
2. War as the ResuIt of Strategie Interaction 107
3. War and Alliance 110
4. The Process of Escalation and De-Escalation 112
5. Summary 115
II. Auto-Regulation of Violence and Escalation 117
Erdmute Alber: Violent Conflicts in West-African Borgu on the Eve of Colonisation 119
Introduction 119
1. Warlords in the Multi-Ethnic Borgu 121
2. Feuds 122
3. Caravan Raids 124
4. Cattle Raids 125
5. Slave Raids 126
6. Redistribution at Baatombu Festivals 128
7. Raids and Gifts 131
8. Conclusion 131
Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers: Humiliation and Reconciliation in Northern Albania. The Logics of Feuding in Symbolic and Diachronic Perspectives 133
Introduction 133
1. The kanun-Discourse 137
2. Different Generations Contesting kanun 139
3. Status Politics, Exclusion, and Inversion 142
4. "Besë!" or the Honour of Protecting a "Friend" 143
5. "Black-Face" and "White-Face" - The Logic of Symbolic Coercion 145
6. Albanian Feuds and States throughout Time 146
7. Modern Political Culture and besë 149
8. Concluding Remarks 150
Dieter Neubert: Dynamics of Escalating Violence 153
Introduction: Analysing the Process of Escalation Instead of Causal Explanation 153
1. Historical Background: A Process of Ethnogenesis 157
2. The Situation at the Beginning of the Nineties 158
3. The Presence of the Option for Violence 160
4. The Legitimisation of Violence 160
5. The Organisation of Violence 164
6. Progressive Escalation 166
7. Conclusion 172
III. De-Escalation and Treatment of the Consequences of Violence 175
Tim Allen: War, Genocide, and Aid. The Genocide in Rwanda 177
Introduction: A World at War 177
1. Humanitarian Aid 182
2. NGOs and War Zones, 1968-1989 185
3. The Role of the Post Cold War UN 191
4. Later Experiments with Armed Humanitarianism 195
5. Conclusion 198
Postscript 200
Gerhard Grohs: About the Role of Churches in the Peace Process in Africa and Central America 203
Introduction 203
1. Peace Negotiations in EI Salvador 204
2. Peace Processes in Mozambique 206
Heike Schmidt: Neither War Nor Peace: Making Sense of Violence 211
Introduction 211
1. The Case Study 212
2. Civilians and Combatants - Victims and Perpetrators 213
3. Making Sense of Violence While it is Going On 217
4. Making Sense of Violence in its Aftermath 222
5. Neither War Nor Peace 225
Ivo Strecker: The Temptations of War and the Struggle for Peace Among the Hamar of Southern Ethiopia 227
Introduction: The Historical Setting 227
1. Traditional Patterns of Warfare 230
2. Theoretical Orientation 235
3. Witnessing the Struggle for Peace and the Temptations of War in Hamar 238
4. Madness as the Ultimate Cause of War 249
5. The Rhetoric and Magie of Ceremonial Peace-Making 252
6. By Way of Conclusion 258
Bibliography 261