Violence and the State

Max Weber famously the defined the state as ‘a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory’. Yet the degree to which this remains the case is hotly debated. With this in mind, this book sets out to help unlock an intriguing interdisciplinary puzzle relating to violence: ‘what is the relationship between the instrumental uses of violence, and the willingness of states to employ it?’

The book takes as its starting point the assumption that violence cannot be completely divorced from ‘traditional’ political objectives. From this, it hypothesises that while types of violence from mass wars to the use of militias, armed gangs and even drones might change; the main purposes of political violence largely do not. More importantly, however, the book examines the contention that elites will alter their attitude to violence if it is an instrument to achieve their own ends.

In providing a counterweight to the notion that political violence has irrevocably changed in a globalised world, Violence and the state gives an original and innovative way in which to understand political violence across a range of discipline areas. It explores the complex relationship between the state and its continued use of violence through a variety of historical and contemporary case studies, including the Napoleonic Wars, Nazi and Soviet ‘eliticide’, the consolidation of authority in modern China, Post-Soviet Russia, and International criminal tribunals. It also looks at humanitarian intervention in cases of organised violence.

The interdisciplinary approach, which spans history, sociology, international law and international relations, ensures that this book will be invaluable to a broad cross-section of scholars and politically engaged readers alike.