Political Violence

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

As the quotation above suggests, an underlying assumption of this course is that ordinary people can, under certain circumstances, act in exceptionally violent and abhorrent ways. Indeed, violence deployed for political purposes is as old as humankind itself and its threat remains eerily relevant in our own era. How and to what end is violence practiced? Why are some societies plagued by recurrent violence while others appear to be mostly free of it? What explains who participates in violence and why? What are the consequences of violence for society? In answering these questions, we will visit examples from multiple continents and time periods, seeking to grasp the mechanisms at play and gaining an understanding of ongoing policy debates. Crucially, we will leave the classroom with a deeper appreciation of how difficult these questions are to answer. At the same time, we will lean on empirical evidence in order to evaluate competing theories that offer plausible answers.