6/04
Lecture 1 05/04/2023
Conceptualization of violence by Johan Galtung (1969):
● direct violence: behaviors carried out by an identifiable agent with the intent to inflict physical harm
● indirect violence: violence as present when humans systematically cannot fulfill their physical and
mental potential (=structural violence). Violence does not require intent and does not require a clear
agent
of political violence: it occurs in wartime (conflicts where there are 1000+ battle-related deaths in a given year)
and in times of peace (electoral violence, ethnic riots, etc.)
Conceptualization of peace by Galtung (1969):
● negative peace: the absence of direct violence
● related to the period of his writing, during the Cold War (fear and insecurity about violence
occurring or the use/acquirement of nuclear weapons)
● positive peace: a self-sustaining condition that protects the human security of a population
● related to the idea that everyone has the right to security and the possibility to flourish without
indirect violence that prevents people from fulfilling their potential.
=> not just about a condition of absence of direct violence!!
interstate violence is the most common
non-state conflict: slow increase in the involvement of non-state actors in conflict (like ISIS, or other armed
groups)
geographic distribution of conflict as of 2021: largely concentrated in Latin America, Central Africa, the Middle
East, and Southeast Asia
Paradigms (Kuhn 1962):
● lenses through which we see the world (especially in IR, for example, realism, constructivism, etc.)
● contains assumptions about the most important actors, their behaviors, and motivations
Paradigms in V&S
● approaches to interstate conflict
● approaches to .. conflict
Realism
the state is the principal actor in international politics
the state is:
● a unitary and rational actor that aims to maximize its interests
● and preferences are a zero-sum game
● #1 preference: national security
understanding of conflict/order
● the international order is characterized by anarchy => security is not guaranteed
● the only way states can protect themselves is by retaining power (mostly by building up
material capabilities)
● power = key to security
● the likelihood of war is shaped by the distribution of power in the international system
Liberalism
, actors and non-state actors are important (like transnational advocacy networks)
state: compound of different constituencies
● preferences are an aggregate of preferences of a wide range of state and societal actors
● preferences are not necessarily opposing, so not a zero-sum game
● outcomes are a process of negotiating and bargaining of domestic actors interacting with each
other
● national security is not always the most important consideration
understanding of conflict/order
● conflict is not inevitable
● positive sum game: cooperation and mutual gains are possible
order is possible thoughts:
● economic interdependence and free trade
● international institutions (with the existence of rules and punishments, which make the commitments
more credible)
● democratic institutions
3. Constructivism
actors and the interests that drive them are socially constructed
● assumptions about agent behaviors:
● political action is shaped by identities and interests
● who the actor is shaped what they view as appropriate action
● conflict and peace are therefore shaped by the content of identities and interests, which is why
norms are so important to social constructivism
● groups as socially constructed actors are not unitary actors
● violence is an attempt to delineate and assert group boundaries
Instrumentalism
elites are the primary actors and explanatory variables for the presence/absence of conflict
● assumptions:
● elites seek to maximize political power and other material gains, and they will foment violence
to meet their interests
Institutionalism
● it seeks to understand how political struggles are mediated by the institutional setting in which they take
place (overlap with liberalism)
7/04
violence and state formation
State: The organization that has a monopoly over the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory to
enforce its order (Weber). [police- legitimate, mafia-illegitimate]
State Formation: The long-term processes leading to centralizing political power within a sovereign territory.
State capacity: The ability of states to accomplish their goals.
- Often measured by a state’s military power and its bureaucratic/administrative capacity
Voordelen van het kopen van samenvattingen bij Stuvia op een rij:
Verzekerd van kwaliteit door reviews
Stuvia-klanten hebben meer dan 700.000 samenvattingen beoordeeld. Zo weet je zeker dat je de beste documenten koopt!
Snel en makkelijk kopen
Je betaalt supersnel en eenmalig met iDeal, creditcard of Stuvia-tegoed voor de samenvatting. Zonder lidmaatschap.
Focus op de essentie
Samenvattingen worden geschreven voor en door anderen. Daarom zijn de samenvattingen altijd betrouwbaar en actueel. Zo kom je snel tot de kern!
Veelgestelde vragen
Wat krijg ik als ik dit document koop?
Je krijgt een PDF, die direct beschikbaar is na je aankoop. Het gekochte document is altijd, overal en oneindig toegankelijk via je profiel.
Tevredenheidsgarantie: hoe werkt dat?
Onze tevredenheidsgarantie zorgt ervoor dat je altijd een studiedocument vindt dat goed bij je past. Je vult een formulier in en onze klantenservice regelt de rest.
Van wie koop ik deze samenvatting?
Stuvia is een marktplaats, je koop dit document dus niet van ons, maar van verkoper annamoneta. Stuvia faciliteert de betaling aan de verkoper.
Zit ik meteen vast aan een abonnement?
Nee, je koopt alleen deze samenvatting voor €10,49. Je zit daarna nergens aan vast.