This anthology brings together classic perspectives on violence, putting into productive conversation the thought
of well-known theorists and activists, including Hannah Arendt, Karl Marx, G. W. F. Hegel, Osama bin Laden, Sigmund
Freud, Frantz Fanon, Thomas Hobbes, and Pierre Bourdieu. The volume proceeds from the editors' contention that
violence is always historically contingent; it must be contextualized to be understood. They argue that violence
is a process rather than a discrete product. It is intrinsic to the human condition, an inescapable fact of life
that can be channeled and reckoned with but never completely suppressed. Above all, they seek to illuminate the
relationship between action and knowledge about violence, and to examine how one might speak about violence without
replicating or perpetuating it.
On Violence is divided into five sections. Underscoring the connection between violence and economic world orders,
the first section explores the dialectical relationship between domination and subordination. The second section
brings together pieces by political actors who spoke about the tension between violence and nonviolence-Gandhi,
Hitler, and Malcolm X-and by critics who have commented on that tension. The third grouping examines institutional
faces of violence-familial, legal, and religious-while the fourth reflects on state violence. With a focus on issues
of representation, the final section includes pieces on the relationship between violence and art, stories, and
the media. The editors' introduction to each section highlights the significant theoretical points raised and the
interconnections between the essays. Brief introductions to individual selectionsprovide information about the
authors and their particular contributions to theories of violence.