Criminalized violence and the process of civilisation: a reappraisal
«Violence and the Civilising Process: Does it work?» – a question raised by Pieter Spierenburg in a recent issue of CHS will be the reference point for the following article. In contrast to Spierenburg my answer to this question is: ‘No, it does not’. First I comment on the validity of late medieval...
Kaydedildi:
| Yayımlandı: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/chs, |
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| Yazar: | |
| Materyal Türü: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Dil: | Anglais |
| Baskı/Yayın Bilgisi: |
Crime, Histoire & Sociétés
2009
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| Online Erişim: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Özet: | «Violence and the Civilising Process: Does it work?» – a question raised by Pieter Spierenburg in a recent issue of CHS will be the reference point for the following article. In contrast to Spierenburg my answer to this question is: ‘No, it does not’. First I comment on the validity of late medieval and early modern ‘homicide rates’ for the development of a general history of violence. A long-term decline in violence, as it is postulated by Spierenburg, cannot be found in the sources. I will then deal with the role of violence within the theory of civilisation. Norbert Elias’ interpretations are based on both a naïve reading of the source material and a simplistic understanding of violence which regards violence as a human ‘drive’ that needs to be suppressed by social control. In the third and final part of this article I try to develop an alternative explanation of violence which views violence as a meaningful and culturally encoded form of social action. Accordingly, violence should not only be perceived as an object of social control but also as a means of social control. |
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