War and violence

Priestly Power and Probity on the Battlefield: Examining the Politico-Religious Origins of the Just War Doctrine

by David Drissel

1-2-3-4 Feminists Don't Want Another War by Carol P. Christ

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

War is a feminist issue for many reasons, most importantly because war is always war against women.
more War is a feminist issue for many reasons, most importantly because war is always war against women.

Patriarchy, war, rape as the “spoils” of war, and the taking of women and children as slaves in the wake of war arose together.  Recent blogs on Feminism and Religion have addressed the war on women—from the rape culture, to Humane Vitae, to the Catholic Church’s and other church’s  attempts to remove birth control from health care, to the tolerance of sexist hate speech in the culture at large. While the issue of Rush Limbaugh calling Sandra Fluke a slut is being focused on in the press, the drums of war are being sounded again in the Middle East:  the US is considering bombing Iran or supporting Israel if it decides to do so.  Feminists must stand together against war and the harm it does to women, children, and all living things.

The Haganah and SOE: Allies and Enemies - Irregular Warfare & Politics in Mandatory Palestine - Given at SMH 2012

by Jacob Stoil

US Military and Covert Action and Global Justice.

by Sagar Sanyal

International Journal of Applied Philosophy; 2009; vol 23 (2); pp213-234

US military intervention and covert action is a significant contributor to global injustice. Discussion of this... more US military intervention and covert action is a significant contributor to global injustice. Discussion of this contributor to global injustice is relatively common in social justice movements. Yet it has been ignored by the global justice literature in political philosophy. This paper aims to fill this gap by introducing the topic into the global justice debate. While the global justice debate has focused on inter-national and supra-national institutions, I argue that an adequate analysis of US military and covert action must focus on domestic institutions of the US. I describe many such institutions including industry lobbying, the ubiquity of US military bases abroad, US programs for training foreign militaries, secrecy of the intelligence and military agencies, pliant news media and government propaganda

Fluid attachment: reframing peacebuilding through Ahmadou Kourouma's Allah n'est pas obligé

by Christina Lux

La guerra non più nobile. Trasformazioni del lutto e destrutturazione del mito della bella morte nell’Italia postfascista, in L. Klinkhammer e O. Janz (a cura di), La morte per la patria. La celebrazione dei caduti dal Risorgimento alla Repubblica, Donzelli, Roma 2008, pp. 213-240.

by Guri Schwarz

Violence, The Fragile Ego and the Peaceful Self

by Max Velmans

This paper is based on an invited lecture on “Violence, the fragile ego, and the peaceful self” given at the National Seminar on Containing Violence: Measures for Resolution hosted by the Center for Ghandian Studies, GITAM University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, 28th January, 2011, during the period that I was a National Visiting Professor of the Indian Research Council of Philosophy (Govt. of India).

This paper gives a brief introduction to various categories of violence along with some of their biological,... more This paper gives a brief introduction to various categories of violence along with some of their biological, socio-cultural, psychological and existential causes, for example violent responses to frustrated needs or desires of the kind specified by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The paper goes on to examine some of the basic principles for ameliorating violence. It then considers a special case of violence associated with fundamentalist beliefs, arguing that these can be understood as a form of destructive self-transcendence, that can ultimately only be remedied by the genuine self-actualization and self-transcendence required for a peaceful self.

The Buddha and the Māgadha-Vajjī War

by Ven. Pandita

Published in the Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 2011

According to an account recorded in Mahāparinibbānasutta, the Buddha had to meet a royal minister named Vassakāra when... more According to an account recorded in Mahāparinibbānasutta, the Buddha had to meet a royal minister named Vassakāra when King Ajātasattu ordered the latter to visit the Buddha and inform him about the king’s plan to subdue the Vajjīs. After hearing Vassakāra, the Buddha spoke on seven Conditions of Welfare (satta aparihāniyā dhammā), which would ensure the prosperity of the Vajjīs as long as its citizens observed them. Vassakāra shrewdly inferred from the Buddha’s discourse how to defeat the Vajjī people and later actually forced them into submission. Regarding that event, there are some perplexing questions:

1. Why did King Ajātasattu choose to consult a wandering ascetic on a significant matter of state like fighting a war?
2. Vassakāra discerned how to defeat the Vajjīs from the Buddha’s exposition of the Seven Conditions of Welfare. So did the Buddha intend to help Ajātasattu defeat the Vajjīs? If not, what was his purpose in expounding the seven Conditions of Welfare to Vassakāra?
3. If the Buddha really did not accept any kind of violence, as the tradition would have it, why did he not openly speak against it?

This paper will attempt to answer these questions and will argue, in the conclusion, that this event shows the Buddha’s disapproving attitude toward a political role of the Buddhist Order.

Between war and peace: violence and accommodation in the Cambodian logging sector

by Simon Springer

Le Billon, P. and Springer, S. 2007. Between war and peace: violence and accommodation in the Cambodian logging sector. Extreme Conflict and Tropical Forests. Eds. Wil de Jong, Deanna Donovan, and Ken-ichi Abe. New York: Springer, pp. 17-36.

This chapter explores how forests contributed to the prolongation of conflict and to the difficulties of transition to... more This chapter explores how forests contributed to the prolongation of conflict and to the difficulties of transition to peace in Cambodia, including the financing of the Khmer Rouge, the reconfiguration of politico-economic networks of power, and the causes behind the apparent failure of both the government and the international community to transform this valuable natural resource into a positive factor for peace and reconstruction.

Violence sits in places? Cultural practice, neoliberal rationalism, and virulent imaginative geographies

by Simon Springer

Springer, S. 2011. Violence sits in places? Cultural practice, neoliberal rationalism, and virulent imaginative geographies. Political Geography. 30 (2), 90-98.

Through imaginative geographies that erase the interconnectedness of the places where violence occurs, the notion that... more Through imaginative geographies that erase the interconnectedness of the places where violence occurs, the notion that violence is 'irrational' marks particular cultures as ‘other’. Neoliberalism exploits such imaginative geographies in constructing itself as the sole providence of nonviolence and the lone bearer of reason. Proceeding as a ‘civilizing’ project, neoliberalism positions the market as salvationary to putatively ‘irrational’ and ‘violent’ peoples. This theology of neoliberalism produces a discourse that binds violence in place. But while violence sits in places in terms of the way in which we perceive its manifestation as a localized and embodied experience, this very idea is challenged when place is reconsidered as a relational assemblage. What this re-theorization does is open up the supposed fixity, separation, and immutability of place to instead recognize it as always co-constituted by, mediated through, and integrated within the wider experiences of space. Such a radical rethinking of place fundamentally transforms the way we understand violence. No longer confined to its material expression as an isolated and localized event, violence can more appropriately be understood as an unfolding process, derived from the broader geographical phenomena and temporal patterns of the social world.

A Parallel Reality Construction of War among Joloano Muslim Survivors in Sulu, Philippines

by FREDE MORENO

Authored by Lea Usman-Laput, PhD

The Mindanao conflict in Southern Philippines is a long-standing controversy that has eluded comprehensive solutions.... more The Mindanao conflict in Southern Philippines is a long-standing controversy that has eluded comprehensive solutions. Despite efforts of the Government of the Philippines (GRP) and the representatives from the peoples of Mindanao in undertaking peace initiatives, “the war:” continues.

The establishment of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as embodied in an organic law provided in the 1986 Philippine Constitution has not seemed to bring about the much-anticipated progress. Even with the so-called “autonomy” already in place to substantiate the clamor of the Muslims for self-rule in the Tripoli Agreement, conflict has escalated signifying unrest among the people.

Instead of dealing with the problem from the standpoint of an “outsider” who may know about the Mindanao conflict from what they hear, the study attempted to get a glimpse of “the war” from the “insiders” who have survived and lived to tell their own stories. From the perspectives of two distinct peoples of Sulu- the Christian and Muslim Joloanos, the study was able to penetrate the heart of conflict in Mindanao.

The study was able to visualize “the 1974 war” and the on-going conflicts from two cultural lenses and in the process was able to demonstrate a “parallel reality construction” among the war survivors who provided interesting insights of “the war” from their “fantasy themes”.

The research has not only surfaced conflicting notions in their revelations of “the war” as experienced (subjective realities) but has generated elements of “convergence” as their experiences were correlated with the institutionalized beliefs of war (objective realities) or the war as told.  Despite distinct subjective realities, they have shown proclivity towards parallel perceptions.

The Joloano war survivors’ subjective realities as applied in the study include their psycho-social trauma of the war and their portrayal of the role of “the other” culture as co-survivors of war. Among the elderly, descriptions of their fears and negative emotions have strongly echoed “old prejudices”. Among the middle-aged, “prudence” and tact in their narratives revealed a tendency to rationalize and to show sympathy towards “the other” culture. From the young war survivors a propensity towards confronting their dilemma suggested optimism and resilience in their perceptions.

Transitions in the subjective realities of the war survivors are apparent across culture and age. Opposing views are very strong among the elderly except for one Christian and a Muslim who are associated with “the other” culture by reason of marriage with them. The older Christian Joloanos for instance believe that the war was “unnecessary” while the older Muslims were convinced it was “inevitable”. The study has strongly shown that “shifts” in perceptions could be anchored on the participants’ religious beliefs and changing circumstances that come with age, political set-up, economic climate and inter-marriage among others.

Their reactions towards the prevailing issues of war (media war issues, other concepts and beliefs of war) which constitute the institutionalized-objective realities as defined in the study are “convergent” despite distinct experiences and personal circumstances. They have for example generally shown disagreement towards the commonly held concept that the mass media function to crystallize relevant issues, like the war in Mindanao. The majority of the co-authors furthermore negated the belief of the general public that “Christians and Muslims can never co-exist peacefully, and that the 1974 war was a form of “jihad” or a religious war among Muslims.

In the study therefore, communication has been proven once again to play a vital role in clarifying issues of the Mindanao conflict. It performed an emancipatory role in ways that provided rhetorical and psychological relief by allowing an occasion for war survivors to deconstruct their realities through their narratives. And to reconstruct their meaning of war by actively taking part in correcting prevailing notions of war to bring about the much needed change in a war-torn community like Sulu.

"Terror and Local Collaboration in Occupied Belarus: The Case of Schutzmannschaft Battalion 118. Part I: Background," Nicolae Iorga Historical Yearbook, Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Vol. VIII (2011): 195-214.

by Per Anders Rudling

REFLEXÕES SOBRE MEMÓRIA, ESQUECIMENTO E RECALQUE DO GENOCÍDIO ARMÊNIO1 REFLECTIONS ON MEMORY, FORGETFULNESS AND …

by Daniela Spinelli

'Christmas and War', in: Christmas, Ideology and Popular Culture, S. Whiteley (ed.) Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2008, pp.137-148.

by Christine Agius

An American Perspective on 21st Century Expeditionary Mindset and Core Values: A Review of the Literature

by Patricia Shields

Published in Core Values and the Expeditionary Mindset: Armed Forces in Metamorphosis. 2011 Edited by Henrick Fust and Gerhard Kummel Baden-Baden: Nomos.  pp. 17-34

This book chapter reviews literature on core values and the expeditionary mindset. The historical context and... more This book chapter reviews literature on core values and the expeditionary mindset. The historical context and definitions are developed. Key tenets of the 21st century expeditionary mindset are identified and examined. Soldiers with an expeditionary mindset should first, be mentally prepared to deploy on short notice anywhere in the world; second, have the critical-thinking skills necessary to adapt quickly to a changing operational environment; third, work cooperatively with members of a Joint team; fourth, posses knowledge of the culture in the area of the local populace, and; fifth, the expeditionary force will be using 21st century network centric technology. The expeditionary force may require a reexamination of core values and an organizational transformation. The chapter examines implications and shows how the pragmatism of John Dewey may be able to reconcile possible contradictions.

„…ipse locus…a monachis inhabitatus…ab Ungaris destructus…“. Gewalt und Zerstörung im 10. Jahrhundert in Bayern im Spannungsfeld historischer und archäologischer Quellen. To be published in: Rauben, Morden, Plündern. Nachweis von Zerstörung und kriegerischer Gewalt im archäologischen Befund. Tagungsbeiträge des Arbeitskreises Spätantike und Frühmittelalter

by Lukas Werther

submitted

The 10th century is traditionally thought of as an era of robbery, murder and decline, for which particularly the... more The 10th century is traditionally thought of as an era of robbery, murder and decline, for which particularly the Hungarian raids to the West are blamed. To question this picture the archaeological and historical sources are presented and assessed in their potential with a focus on southern Germany. Patterns of interpretation and methods of analysis are critically discussed.

Émulation guerrière et stéréotypes nationaux dans les guerres d’Italie

by Marc H. Smith

Les guerres d’Italie (1494-1559) : histoire, pratiques, représentations, actes du colloque international (Paris, 1999), éd. Danielle Boillet et Marie-Françoise Piéjus, Paris : Univ. de la Sorbonne-Nouvelle, 2001 (Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur la Renaissance italienne, 25), p. 155-176.

Daniel Libeskind für Dresden: das Militärhistorische Museum

by Denis Bocquet

Published in Bauwelt, 43, 11, Nov. 2011, p.28

Bauwelt asked 5 figures of the Dresden architecture critique scene (glad to be still part of it, now that I left the... more Bauwelt asked 5 figures of the Dresden architecture critique scene (glad to be still part of it, now that I left the city) an opinion about the new Libeskind Museum of the Bundeswehr. (Full dossier to be read in Bauwelt, with an article by Michael Kasiske and a series of short statements, by Mary Pepchinski, Heidrun Hannusch Gisbert Porstmann and Volker Sielaff)

Thanks to Ingo Kolboom for the german language (decisive) upgrade

Ein Enthauptungsopfer vom slawischen Burgwall Potzlow (to be published in: Archäologie in Deutschland 2012, Jg. 28)

by Joachim Henning

Co-authored with Johanna Morgan & Felix Biermann

Real Men Kill and Lady Never Talks Back: Gender Goes to War in Country Music

by Lesley Pruitt

2007. “Real Men Kill and a Lady Never Talks Back: Gender Goes to War in Country Music.” International Journal on World Peace December 2007, 24(4): 85-106.

Music can be a powerful medium for social change when artists use their songs to promote peace. But, this study shows... more Music can be a powerful medium for social change when artists use their songs to promote peace. But, this study shows that women anti-war celebrities are limited in their ability to affect social change by dominant gendered discourses connected to country music in the United States. The anti-war statements by men in the genre do not suffer the same kind of backlash women receive. This difference is examined using comparative discourse analysis for the Dixie Chicks, an all-female band, and Willie Nelson, a male singer-songwriter. This comparison demonstrates how the statements of country music artists who protest war are received differently based on their gender, and reveals how country music reflects public discourse and reinforces limited ideas of peace through promoting traditional views of gender.