Violence and the Left

3.0 credits · Undergraduate

Violence is on the rise across the political spectrum. While the left has a long tradition of pacifism, the prevalence of political violence today suggests that we can no longer equate leftism and nonviolence. This course expands understandings of violence beyond the state or military force to consider left-wing theories of political violence from assassinations and sabotage to guerilla warfare and revolutionary upheaval. We will cover major transnational movements including anarchism, anti-fascism, anti-colonialism, feminism, and Marxism, as well as key concepts such as expropriation, counter-violence, propaganda of the deed, and revolutionary defeatism. Taught in English.