Violence

Violence is simultaneously destructive and generative of social relations, individual and collective subjects, states, law and ethics, formal and informal authorities, multiple and layered sovereignties. It is inscribed into the fabric of everyday life not only through repressive means but also through the epistemic and violent production of the other enemies, criminals, terrorists. This course draws on anthropology, history, critical theory, films and documentaries, fictive and journalistic writing to explore violence, its power and meaning in its multifaceted physical, symbolic, political, moral, and cultural manifestations.