Violence: A Micro-Sociological Theory
... The same survey was undertaken among the US infantry soldiers in the Pacific theatre of war and the results were very similar with very high percentage of soldiers identifying fear as the key obstacle for efficient military action: the soldiers confessed that they experienced violent pounding of the heart (76%), were sick in their stomachs (over 50%) and many had cold sweats, would tremble or faint (Stouffer et al, 1949, p. 201). A very similar response has been recorded in other wars and among other soldiers (Collins, 2008;Bourke, 2000;Grossman, 1996;Holmes, 1985). ...
... Nevertheless, the intense feelings of fear were not the main cause of desertion as many soldiers felt a strong sense of attachment and obligation towards their comrades and would not leave the battlefields even when experiencing a profound sense of dread, panic and horror (Malešević, 2010;Collins, 2008). A more prevalent reaction to fear and horror of the battlefield was the soldier's general unwillingness to target and shoot at the enemy soldiers. ...
... Marshall (1947, p. 50) argued that only between 15 and 25 percent of soldiers would fire their weapons at the enemy while the majority would misfire or not fire at all. Although Marshall's work has been questioned and criticised for its methodological weaknesses (Mann, 2019;Spiller, 1988) other scholars have identified a similar level of non-firing in other theatres of war and other combat zones throughout the world (King, 2011;Collins, 2008;Bourke, 2000). ...
The focal point of this article is the relationship between emotions and close-range fighting. Emotions play a central role in warfare. Nearly all soldiers who encounter combat zones experience intense emotional reactions. Some of these emotions are negative, such as fear, panic, anger, rage, or shame, while others are more positive, including pride, elation, joy, or exhilaration. Some scholars argue that there is inherent uniformity of emotional reactions on the battlefield. However, recent studies indicate that the emotional dynamics in the combat zone are more complex and flexible. Following this research, I argue in this article that there are pronounced historical and cultural differences in the emotional responses of fighters in combat zones. Facing the same realities of close-range fighting, soldiers tend to display different emotional reactions and these reactions are more variable as the cultural and historical contexts change.
... As summarised by Malešević (2010) and Downes et al. (2016) for conflict and criminology studies, respectively, the mainstream of these fields, even if inspired by neoclassical economics, still depend on the weight of classical sociology to develop models of what they normatively believe is deviant human behaviour. Conversely, there have been remarkable attempts to formulate consistent theories about organisational violence without considering violence as a deviance in human behaviour, but instead as an integral part of collective action (Blattman, 2022;Bowles and Gintis, 2011;Collins, 2008;Kalyvas, 2006;Malešević, 2017;Mann, 2023;Tilly, 2003). These scholars have gone beyond the older debates that used to argue that impoverished individuals enact 'irrational' violence, that they are cultural 'barbarians' or that poverty makes them criminal deviants. ...
... Contrary to these theories, Tilly (2003), Collins (2008) and Mann (2023) have defended that violence is part of the repertoire of social action. Hence, violence is neither human inescapable nature nor something that humans evolved from. ...
... 1. sustaining a social conflict in which groups sort tensions through organised violence (Collins, 2008); 2. governing populations or annihilating them (Kalyvas, 2006); 3. as a dispute-settling mechanism (Andreas and Wallman, 2009;Gambetta, 1996) and 4. to protect property and smuggling (Skaperdas, 2001). ...
Scholars have long debated what is the role of inequalities in organised violence, but the causal mechanisms remain unclear. I argue that mainstream approaches (e.g. deviance, subcultures, grievances, rational choice and Marxism) fall short because they overlook that organised violence is an intensive form of work. These perspectives often exoticise individuals involved in violence for profit or political purposes. Violence is not a deviant feature of social life but an integral part of collective action. By applying occupational lenses, I position those engaged in violence as a specialised class of manual workers recruited in the protection labour market. Scholars can acknowledge the occupational stratification observed before in research about organised violence by understanding violence specialists as workers. This essay explores how the sociology of work can enhance our understanding of inequality reproduction within criminal organisations, guerrillas, armies, police forces, mercenaries and private military companies.
... For example, the census commissioned in 1086 by William the Conqueror that was published in the Domesday Book shows that most villages in England at that time were around 150 people (Dunbar, 2021, p. 31). The sociological research also indicates that human beings cannot maintain too many strong ties with other humans as this also involves a great deal of interactional labour (Collins, 2008;Collins, 2022;Goffman, 1967). The new technologies have allowed much more daily interaction between individuals who do not know each other. ...
... Similarly, the Israel Defence Forces specify that 'the soldiers of the IDF are obliged to fight and devote every effort, even at the risk of their own lives, to protect the State of Israel, its citizens and residents … while respecting the values of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state' (The Israel Defence Forces, 2023). However, the years of extensive scholarship on the behaviour of soldiers on the battlefield indicate that they are usually averse to nationalist rhetoric (Bourke, 2000;Collins, 2008;Collins, 2022;Holmes, 1986;Maleševi c, 2010;Maleševi c, 2022;Mann, 2023). While such patriotic discourses often appeal to civilians, the young recruits and might be extensively deployed by the veteran organisations, most individuals participating in the combat tend to be ill-disposed towards the patriotic language on the frontlines. ...
... A new arrival who talked patriotism would soon be told to cut it out' (Graves, 1980, p. 157). A similar attitude was recorded in many other military units across many 20th and 21st century wars (Bourke, 2000;Collins, 2008;Collins, 2022;Dollard, 1977;Holmes, 1986;Maleševi c, 2010;Maleševi c, 2022;Mann, 2023). As Dollard's (1977) research on the US soldiers shows nationalism and other ideological doctrines had a minimal impact as the fighting motivators, instead 'ideology functions before battle, to get man in; and after battle by blocking thoughts of escape'. ...
This article explores the social mechanisms that facilitate the transformation of micro‐level bonds into coherent nationalist narratives of solidarity. The aim is to explain the paradox: while the armed forces are highly nationalist institutions, most ordinary combatants detest nationalist rhetoric on the battlefield. Drawing on the interviews with the combatants who fought in the 1991–1995 wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina together with the analysis of the mass media reports, I examine how deep bonds of micro‐solidarity forged in the violent experiences are transformed into coherent nationalist discourses. I explore how social ties generated in the protracted face‐to‐face interactions can be enveloped by the specific social organisations and then ‘translated’ into nationalist ideologies that project deep comradeship as ‘national solidarities’. I aim to show that the direct war experience does not automatically generate strong bonds of national solidarity. Instead, nationalism is always a product of protracted coercive‐organisational, ideological and micro‐interactional work.
... É necessário adotar um olhar atento para uma ecologia simbólica, a saber, a disputa entre atores pelos limitados recursos existentes em seu meio ambiente (como a proposta ecológica supõe). Ora, todo tópico de discussão tem um "limitado espaço de atenção" (Collins, 1998(Collins, , 2008 (Schwartz, 2009, p. 135). A análise do autor ilumina a necessidade de competição entre símbolos cujos significados são semelhantes para garantir a sua posição como "único" e relevante em relação aos demais objetos. ...
... Dramas, traumas e a estratificação emocional de uma grande família simbólicaAo longo deste capítulo, observou-se como atores pertencentes a diferentes campos políticos construíram, em uma relação dialógica, ressonâncias entre o caso Moa do Katendê e outros casos "familiares" na busca por conferir sentido aos casos de violência política. Por mais que ressonantes, houve também uma competição entre eles devido ao "limitado espaço de atenção"(Collins, 1998(Collins, , 2008 que o tema da violência política, a despeito de sua relevância na esfera civil brasileira, podia despertar. Sendo assim, a construção dessa constelação familiar passa por uma hierarquização entre os casos, com cada grupo político tendo o seu símbolo impulsionador, a saber, de um lado, a facada em Bolsonaro e, de outro, Marielle Franco (ver imagem 4.6.). ...
Esta dissertação analisa as diferentes formas de representação da violência política na contemporaneidade, com base no estudo de caso do assassinato do mestre de capoeira Romualdo Rosário da Costa, conhecido como Moa do Katendê. Moa foi assassinado na noite do dia 7 de outubro de 2018, data do primeiro turno das eleições presidenciais daquele ano, devido a discordâncias políticas em um bar na cidade de Salvador. As eleições de 2018 foram marcadas pela ascensão de ideias e atores de extrema-direita que desafiavam valores democráticos, tais quais a pacificidade da política e o sentimento mútuo de solidariedade a despeito das antipatias ideológicas. Dado este contexto e a motivação política do assassinato, o caso recebeu atenção considerável do debate público, mas de forma diversa. Para o campo progressista/democrático, o homicídio foi definido como um caso de violência política que demonstrava a agressividade e o ódio dos discursos bolsonaristas; para a extrema-direita, o assassinato foi considerado como
desprovido de relação com a vida política e uma evidencia do oportunismo dos seus
opositores em narrarem o caso como um símbolo de denúncia. O resultado foi um conflito entre representações que disputaram o modo que o caso deveria ser interpretado. Tal conflito impulsionou a repercussão do assassinato, tornando-o o caso mais mencionado de violência política entre o primeiro e o segundo turno das eleições. No entanto, após o encerramento do processo eleitoral e a vitória de Bolsonaro, o caso foi sumariamente esquecido, sendo apenas relembrado em momentos muito específicos.
Teoricamente inspirada pelo “programa forte” em sociologia cultural, desenvolvido por Jeffrey Alexander e Philip Smith, e tematicamente inspirada pelos debates da sociologia brasileira sobre a relação antinômica entre violência e democracia, esta pesquisa visa: 1) analisar os discursos contemporâneos sobre a violência em ambientes democráticos a partir das formas de representação da violência política, seja a aceitação, relativização ou condenação do evento violento; 2) propor um novo arcabouço para pensar o problema das representações da violência política à luz da sociologia cultural; e 3) utilizar o estudo de caso como forma de aprimoração dos modelos teóricos da sociologia cultural em geral, especialmente no que se refere a sua utilização para investigações sobre os problemas da violência política.
... After all, violent events in which harm is inflicted on people's bodies (Popitz [1986] 2017) constitute emotionally loaded situations of unpredictable consequence and are rarely implemented in as cold and controlled a fashion as it may seem from a distance. Rather, micro-sociological explorations of violence illuminate how easily violence gets out of hand (see Collins 2008), causing unforeseeable psychological, physical, and social consequences for both perpetrator and victim. With this in mind, I hope to complicate our understanding of the morality of violence within vigilante groups, which I found to be neither exempt from personal moral dilemmas nor rooted in moral imperatives (e.g., Pratten 2008a;Titeca 2009). ...
... In this vein, the case of Kouba demonstrates that the morality of vigilante violence is not based on clearly defined moral imperatives (e.g., Pratten 2008a) but always remains contingent. Even when vigilantes try to determine moral limitations and rules for their punishments, they can be reinterpreted and manipulated by individual members and quickly circumvented the moment the violence is actually acted out (see Collins 2008). This moral contingency of violence is also a possible clarification for why vigilante orders, like other configurations of collective violence, rarely survive long-term. ...
Most research on vigilantism in the social sciences assumes that vigilante groups in Africa operate on the basis of a homogenous moral order. Based on a rare opportunity to conduct ethnographic fieldwork with Koglweogo vigilante groups in urban Burkina Faso, I argue instead that vigilantism is an experimental moral project that struggles with the question of how to exercise violence in a “good” way. Drawing on recent debates in moral anthropology, I investigate the personal dilemmas and moral conflicts that emerge among Koglweogo members, as well as the transformative potential of their violent interventions. This in-depth look at the ordinary moral practices of vigilantes reveals that the morality of vigilante violence is contingent and highly negotiated, and this perspective complicates our understanding of violence where it appears to be collective.
... They advanced the methodology with new technologies: charting the micro-details of how people talked by recording it with tape recorders. Some decades later, I extended the method by using videos and photos to show what violence really looks like (Collins, 2008). I theorized this evidence with a quasi-Goffmanian model of how violent threats strain the process of IRs, and hence create confrontational tension, which led to a theory of tipping points when violence succeeds or fails. ...
... Can the effects of alcohol be increased or counteracted by the success of the IR during those times? Conversely, some persons who are most effective at IRs avoid alcohol or drugs; this is also true of persons who are highly skilled in violence (Collins, 2008). Here again we have a research frontier where much can be discovered. ...
This interview with Randall Collins explores the role of interaction rituals (IR) in our increasingly digital world. For Collins, IR is a micro-sociological mechanism that provides both the glue that holds social groups together and the energy that fuels disputes and domination. Crucially, Collins posits that IRs are most effective under face-to-face or “bodily copresent” conditions. The pivotal question of this interview is how well this proposition holds in an age where interaction increasingly takes place through and with technologies. The interview begins with Collins explaining how he became interested in IR, before moving on to consider topics such as whether bodily copresence is as important today as it was when he wrote Interaction Ritual Chains (2004); the relative importance of online and offline IRs; how AI might change our ritual landscape; the role of materiality in the ritual process; and whether IR theory will continue to be as relevant in the future.
... Scholars now possess resources and tools to observe protest that were not available in the past. Collins (2008) describes this transformation as follows, "the video revolution has made available much more information about what happens in violent situations than ever before" (Collins, 2008, 5). ...
... Emotional energy denotes a positive collective emotional atmosphere that is built up in face-to-face interactions and may energize collective action. To Collins, this energy is created through human interaction rituals and creates group solidarity and a shared understanding of morality (Collins, 1990(Collins, , 2004(Collins, , 2008(Collins, , 2014. We use the term to denote how such events as a concert might be loaded with emotional energy but also adapt the concept to denote phenomena that are not face-toface. ...
This article synthesizes subcultural theory with elements from the sociology of emotions. Two theoretical models are developed. In the first, young people form subcultures on the basis of feelings of injustice. Subcultures give expressive form to authentic anger and express resistance. In the second, young people use subcultures to explore non-normative feelings, but this does not mean that they are actually angry, nor is the formation of subcultures based on shared structural position. The analytical value of the models is illustrated through a dialogue with a virtual ethnographic material (debates, interviews, music videos, documentaries, pictures, album covers etc.) focusing on hip hop. It is argued that the two models are not mutually exclusive but can strengthen our analytical sensitivity when it comes to understanding youth subcultures that might be resistant, but at the same time resist being fixed into the position of ‘angry youth’.
... Sociology has long been known for its scattered topical subjects, along with the absence of any unifying theoretical paradigm(s) in the modern era (with important exceptions, for example, Black, [1976]2010; Collins, 2008;Turner, 2002Turner, , 2003. Scholars have debated the litany reasons for our lack of theoretical consensus or progress (Campbell, 2019;Davis, 1994;Lizardo, 2020). ...
Sociologists have spent a great deal of time considering the cultural import of time schedules, the periodicity of interactions, life-course and age-related trajectories, the use of public and private spaces, and the traversal of space enabled by transportation technology and electronic media. What they have not done, however, is consider spatiotemporal perception, per se, and how this perception is influenced by social structure. Doing so is important because spatiotemporal perception implicates important aspects of behavior, such as impulse control. In this paper, I describe the neurophysiology of spatiotemporal perception, link it to behavioral regulation/impulse control, and derive 12 propositions admitting of 52 testable hypotheses which might plausibly extend or modify some of our most important sociological theories.
... The goal within VDAs is, according to Nassauer and Legewie (2021), to "reconstruct a situation step-by-step, analyse its inner dynamics, and establish comprehensive story lines" (p. 149), often by triangulating videos with different data sources such as pictures, police case files and documents (see also Collins, 2008). The analytical strategy is to reconstruct "the situational sequence in detail, including the context in which it arose, before analysing if a situation shows intrinsic dynamics that contribute to the occurrence of an outcome or its absence" (Nassauer, 2022, p. 42). ...
... In relation to a), there are approaches that attribute all explanatory power to the "situation," be it fluent or bureaucratically stable, and not to the "person" and personality "traits." Examples can be found in the sociology of violent emotions derived from symbolic interactionism (Collins 2008) or in Weberian ideal type models of state bureaucracy that are attributed to the creation of modern mass-violence (Malešević 2006). In Collins's theory of violence, for instance, there is no room for an explanation that focuses on a socially shaped "habitus," nor for that matter, any "national habitus." ...
... This form of original accumulation corresponds to Marx's concept of original accumulation, marking a transition to class society, and then continuously and objectively replicating itself [92]. Hence, Bourdieu developed the core concept of "symbolic violence," which is a power to ascribe meaning and legitimize it through hidden power relations that constitute its force base, echoing the superstructure described in Marxism [22]. ...
This article examines the theoretical foundations, challenges, and future directions of class analysis in contemporary China through a comprehensive review of existing literature and frameworks. While China’s market-oriented reforms since 1978 have led to unprecedented economic growth, they have also generated complex patterns of social stratification that challenge traditional theoretical frameworks. The study critically evaluates four theoretical approaches to class analysis: Wright’s neo-Marxist framework, Goldthorpe’s neo-Weberian schema, Grusky’s neo-Durkheimian perspective, and Bourdieu’s theory of capital interplay. The analysis reveals significant limitations in applying these Western-derived frameworks to China’s unique social context, characterized by the coexistence of state and market forces, persistent institutional features such as the hukou system, and distinctive patterns of cultural capital formation. Four major challenges are identified: the inadequacy of conventional class theories in capturing China’s hybrid socialist market economy, the emergence of new forms of stratification in the digital era, political sensitivity surrounding class discourse, and methodological difficulties in measuring subjective dimensions of class experience. The study argues for developing an integrated theoretical framework that synthesizes structural analysis with cultural and symbolic dimensions while remaining sensitive to China’s specific institutional context. The findings contribute to both theoretical advancement in sociology and practical insights for addressing social inequality in China’s rapidly transforming society.
... Two different strategies for defining violence are common in the social sciences, which cannot be linked to each other, but which are similar in the way they are used as described above. A narrow understanding of violence (20) emphasises the restriction of violence to the injury of another person's body. A broad understanding of violence, such as 'structural' (21) or 'symbolic' (22) violence, on the other hand, relies on forms of suffering that are analogous to violence. ...
Uncommon behaviours such as aggression, apathy or restlessness are described as challenging behaviours in dementia care. On the one hand, this concept describes a practical problem faced by care staff and, at the same time, defines normatively how care staff should deal with this problem. A frequent benchmark here is the dignity of the person in need of care, which caregivers should also respect in the case of challenging behaviour. However, little is known about the normative standards that are effective in practice in everyday care when dealing with challenging behaviour. Researching these can provide information on which standards are actually applied and encourage reflection on which standards should be applied. In view of the fact that challenging behaviour can also be associated with aggression and/or violence in particular, an ethically significant question arises as to what effects the practical handling of such behaviour has on the extent of the willingness to use violence. The aim of this article is therefore to present empirical findings from an ethnographic study that focuses on the interpretation and practical handling of aggressive behaviour of care recipients by the nursing staff. In essence, it will be shown that a professional approach to challenging behaviour helps to prevent people with dementia in need of care from committing violent acts. If this finding is analysed in terms of its ethical implications, the conclusion suggests itself that the exclusion of the possibility of using violence is to be welcomed, since the exercise of violence makes respect for the dignity of another person, if not impossible, at least more difficult. However, it is questionable whether, under such conditions, the renunciation of violence can still be attributed the freedom required to qualify it as ethically good behaviour.
... Randall Collins (2008) emphasises significance of emotions that may lead to violence. He argues that in a situational encounter, actors build up a confrontational tension and fear (ct/f). ...
... Polarized teams may attempt to integrate more diverse information, requiring more talk, which yields greater article quality. Integrating diverse perspectives on contested and value-laden topics could be acrimonious, but a balance of liberals and conservatives could lower the temperature of potentially volatile collaborations, following research that links competitive imbalance to emotional aggression and violence [36]. We measure debate temperature using the Detox tool, developed by Wikimedia to identify harassment in the Wiki community. ...
As political polarization in the United States continues to rise, the question of whether polarized individuals can fruitfully cooperate becomes pressing. Although diversity of individual perspectives typically leads to superior team performance on complex tasks, strong political perspectives have been associated with conflict, misinformation and a reluctance to engage with people and perspectives beyond one's echo chamber. It is unclear whether self-selected teams of politically diverse individuals will create higher or lower quality outcomes. In this paper, we explore the effect of team political composition on performance through analysis of millions of edits to Wikipedia's Political, Social Issues, and Science articles. We measure editors' political alignments by their contributions to conservative versus liberal articles. A survey of editors validates that those who primarily edit liberal articles identify more strongly with the Democratic party and those who edit conservative ones with the Republican party. Our analysis then reveals that polarized teams---those consisting of a balanced set of politically diverse editors---create articles of higher quality than politically homogeneous teams. The effect appears most strongly in Wikipedia's Political articles, but is also observed in Social Issues and even Science articles. Analysis of article "talk pages" reveals that politically polarized teams engage in longer, more constructive, competitive, and substantively focused but linguistically diverse debates than political moderates. More intense use of Wikipedia policies by politically diverse teams suggests institutional design principles to help unleash the power of politically polarized teams.
... (Archer, 2004: 291-322) (Michaud, 2012 : 88-102) ﺑﺨﺎﺻﺔ ﻣﻨﻪ واﳌﺎدي اﻟﻌﻨﻒ، إﱃ ﻟﻠﺒﻴﻮﻟﻮﺟﻲ ﺗﺄﻛﻴﺪ ﻣﻊ ،(Le Goaziou, 2016: 15-34) اﻟﻌﺪواﻧﻴﺔ اﻟﺠﻨﺴﻴﺔ اﻟﻌﻼﻗﺎت ﻣﺜﺎل ﰲ ﻛﺎﻤ اﻟﺤﺮﻣﺎن إﱃ ِﻩ و ْ ﺰ َ ﻋ أو ، (Corraze, 1997: 115-125) اﻟﻌﺪواﻲﻧ ﻟﻠﺴﻠﻮك ﱢﺪة ُﻮﻟ اﳌ اﳌﻴﻜﺎﻧﻴﺰﻣﺎت ﰲ ﺳﻠﻮك وﺗﻮﺟﻴﻪ اﻟﺴﻴﻄﺮة ﺗﺤﻘﻴﻖ إﱃ ﺗﺴﻌﻰ ﻏﺮاﺋﺒﻴﺔ ﻣﺎﻤرﺳﺎت ﺿﻤﻦ وﺿﻌﻪ أو ، (Dollard, 1939) ﻋﻠﻢ اﺗﺠﺎﻫﺎت ﺿﻤﻦ ﻟﻠﻌﺪوان، ﻴﺎﻗﻲ ّ اﻟﺴ اﻟﺘﺤﻠﻴﻞ وﻳﺒﺪو . (Terrail, 1979: 21-42) ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ُﻌﺘﺪى اﳌ ﰲ ﻧﻈﺮﻳﺘﻪ ﻣﺜﻼً ﻛﻮﻟﻴﻨﺰ راﻧﺪل ﻳﺒﻨﻲ ﺣﻴﺚ ، (Nassauer, 2022: 40-64) اﻟﺘﻘﺎﻟﻴﺪ راﺳﺦ اﻻﺟﺘﺎﻤع، ﻋﲆ ﺑﻞ اﻟﻔﺎﻋﻠﻦﻴ ﻋﲆ ﻣﺎﻤرﺳﺘﻪ ﻳﺤﻴﻞ ﻻ ﻣﻨﻈﻮر ﻋﲆ (Collins, 2008) (Scott, 1985) اﳌﻌﺎﴏة اﳌﺠﺘﻤﻌﺎت ﻣﺴﺘﻀﻌﻔﻲ إﱃ ﺑﺎﻟﻨﺴﺒﺔ (Chaudhary [et al.] ...
After dealing with the concepts of resistance and aggression, on a conceptual and theoretical level, and from the perspectives of different social sciences, the paper testes if aggression could be viewed as an overall societal structure giving birth to a «society of aggression». Focusing on the case of the Palestinian resistance against the Zionist settler colonization of the historic land of Palestine, the paper invests the outcomes of its introductive theoretical and conceptual review in reading this very confrontation as a hostile one between two social systems, one being aggressive while the other is resistant. The main assumption of the paper is that both resistance and aggression, in their inseparability on the land of Palestine, shape the societal structure, frame social practices, and produce individual and collective identities. اﻟﺼﻬﻴﻮﻲﻧ. اﻻﺳﺘﻌﺎﻤر ﻓﻠﺴﻄﻦﻴ؛ اﻟﻌﺪوان؛ ﻣﺠﺘﻤﻊ اﳌﻘﺎوﻣﺔ؛ ﻣﺠﺘﻤﻊ اﳌﻔﺘﺎﺣﻴﺔ: اﻟﻜﻠﺎﻤت
... Im Kapitel zur Gewaltanwendung bezieht Schmidt sich auf Collins (Collins, 2008) und thematisiert das emische Konzept der Eskalationstreppe im Feld. Hier böten sich jüngst Anschlüsse an Forschungen an, die Interaktionen genauer in den Blick nehmen und polizeiliches Handeln in seiner interaktiven Realisierung genauer untersuchen (wie etwa Watson & Meehan, 2021;Nassauer, 2019;Malthaner & Teune, 2023). ...
... Americký sociolog Randall Collins definici násilí omezující se pouze na fyzické násilí, označuje jako definici minimalistickou (minimalistic)[Collins 2008]. ...
The paper focuses on the work of historical sociology professor Siniša Maleševič and his findings in the field of organised violence, especially genocide. Maleševič identified three main long-term historical processes responsible for emergence of special societal conditions that enabled a rise of genocides. The article discusses Maleševič’s approach to the study of violence, the role of the long-term historical processes triad in relation to the most extreme form of organised violence – genocide, and finally offers a detailed explanation of Maleševič’s theory supplemented by a graphic scheme. The article also compares the author’s claims with the arguments of other leading researchers in the field of violence and genocide research.
... (Dabila & Fouillet 2023) Or are their responses better defined through opportunity structures, influenced by the number of units in the game, as proposed by Jean Baechler (Baechler 2003)? The numerous works questioning the "sources of power" (Mann 1986), the nature of state and of its interaction with other States (Lachman 2010, Spruyt 1994Spruyt & Cooley 2009), the nature of political violence (Collins 2008, Zimmermann 2012, Kalyvas 2015 Most of all, historical sociology was successful in bringing together sociologists, historians and philosophers to study IR and world political evolution. This is where the collection of Aron's fifty years of writing and teaching material for a systematized sociological history is precious for French academics (Meszaros & Dabila 2018). ...
El trabajo de Aron inicialmente ganó más reconocimiento en los Estados Unidos, donde figuras influyentes como Morgenthau, Kissinger y Young se involucraron con sus ideas, aunque su trabajo no se basa en una separación estricta de las Relaciones Internacionales de los otros campos de las Ciencias Humanas. El fundamento interdisciplinario de Aron, que abarca la filosofía, la ciencia política, la sociología y la historia, sentó las bases para su enfoque único, permitiendo comprender los conflictos entre políticas entrelazados con otros procesos sociales (dentro y fuera de la entidad política). Su obra renombrada Paz y Guerra trascendió las acciones diplomáticas, adentrándose en las relaciones entre Estados, los conflictos de valores, las percepciones mutuas y la esencia del poder político, encapsulando una ontología de las relaciones internacionales. Lamentablemente, la investigación de Aron, desarrollada en el Centro de Sociología Europea, a menudo es simplificada o malinterpretada. El enfoque sociológico de Aron también se apartó de las escuelas francesas e inglesas de Relaciones Internacionales. Inspirado por Weber, Marx y pensadores franceses, enfatizó el contexto cultural, la acción individual y el papel del conflicto en la historia. A pesar de la literatura posterior, la obra de Aron y su enfoque de las RI han sido lamentablemente marginados. Este estudio tiene como objetivo revivir las contribuciones de Aron, investigando su aplicabilidad en las relaciones internacionales contemporáneas. La tradición multidisciplinaria de Aron ofrece una alternativa a las teorías convencionales de las RI, proporcionando una perspectiva más matizada de la política global en evolución. Al situar la visión de Aron en un contexto más amplio de las ciencias sociales, este artículo aboga por un enfoque interdisciplinario integral de las RI, revitalizando su liberalismo sociológico para los desafíos modernos.
... Most publicaGons tended to pathologise climate anxiety, shiling focus away from collecGve acGon towards its treatment as an individualised psychological condiGon. In a similar vein, several papers focused on the emoGonal 'skills' and techniques required to manage climate anxiety and stay posiGve, but with the possible side effect of eroding the collecGve emoGonal energy necessary for social acGon (Collins, 2004(Collins, , 2008. The final discourse followed the reflexive turn, a discursive outlier in recognising the relaGonal importance of emoGons to engagement and shared acGon (Holmes, 2004(Holmes, , 2010. ...
Eco-anxiety and associated emotions are on the rise. International estimates range from 25–68% prevalence. Australians now regard climate change as their top concern for the future, with some young people reconsidering their intentions to become parents. The emotional sequela from climate change is becoming clearer. How it is conceptualised, responded to, and reinforced within public discourse requires further consideration. This paper presents a multi-method qualitative text and discourse analysis of Australian online news articles published in 2022 reporting on emotions and our ecological future. Drawing on sociological theories of emotions and Foucauldian conceptualisations of discourse, we present insights into the potency of emotions and discourses within online news media. We identify four differing conceptualisations of emotions, interpret what these discourses can do, and conclude with ways in which the public can reclaim agency in resisting discourses that engender passivity in the context of future ecological threats.
... È ugualmente fondamentale indebolire la solidarietà interna al gruppo rivale. Ciò vuol dire, in sintonia con il modello teorico elaborato nel 2008 in Violence, far valere soprattutto un dominio di tipo emozionale, che permetta, in situazioni concrete, di sovrastare il rivale nello spazio fisico dell'incontro (Collins, 2008b). Come abbiamo accennato riflettendo sul panico inoltrato, può emergere un momento nel confronto in cui una superiorità netta nell'energia emozionale disponibile e nella compattezza del gruppo consente di infrangere efficacemente l'organizzazione e l'assetto del nemico. ...
This work aims to be an in-depth analysis of Randall Collins’ theoretical pattern bringing together conflict, social solidarity and the emotional foundation of everyday life. The starting point is his interaction rituals theory, in which the link between emotions, solidarity, morality and social action is significant. This theoretical model is then used by the American sociologist to understand conflicts and violence-related phenomena.The article aims to present in an exhaustive way these aspects of Collins’ theoretical effort, with its merits and limitations, highlighting the central role of emotional energy.
L’article esquisse un continuum des institutions de la sobriété, des plus totales aux plus partielles. Il prolonge la théorie des institutions élaborée par Erving Goffman uniquement à partir des formes et des effets socialisateurs des institutions totales. L’article construit, à rebours du pôle de l’institution totale, la notion d’institution partielle : ouverte, urbaine et qui socialise ponctuellement à des habitudes spécifiques. Ce continuum inédit offre un cadre d’analyse plus complet pour comparer les institutions de la sobriété et situer des cas précis.
C’est ce à quoi s’attelle la partie empirique de l’article, consacrée à deux ateliers d’autoréparation de vélo. Il s’agit de lieux qui promeuvent la sobriété en récupérant et en réparant des vélos. L’enquête dans les deux ateliers d’autoréparation de vélo repose sur 40 entretiens semi-directifs et un mois d’observation participante. Elle révèle que la forme des ateliers vélo permet :
1) l’apprentissage ponctuel d’habitudes spécifiques de la mécanique vélo,
2) la poursuite de la pratique quotidienne de la mécanique,
3) l’adoption généralisée de la sobriété.
Ces trois formes de socialisation montrent que les ateliers d’autoréparation de vélo cumulent les caractéristiques des institutions partielles de la sobriété (points 1 et 2) et des propriétés d’institutions plus totalisantes (point 3). Ce résultat permet de situer l’atelier d’autoréparation sur une ébauche de continuum des institutions de la sobriété.
En général, cette analyse d’un cas d’institution de la sobriété illustre comment le continuum goffmanien des institutions ouvre à des analyses comparatives et cumulatives des institutions de la sobriété.
The article analyzes the possibilities and limitations of the classical sociological discourse of war for analyzing Russian aggression against Ukraine. It is emphasized that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has created new challenges for the theoretical substantiation of sociological studies of war. The questions are raised whether it is worthwhile to fully rely on the achievements of the "new wars" theorists who argue that due to significant changes in the conduct of modern wars, Clausewitz's postulate of the secondary "paradoxical trinity" inherent in war: people, army and government cannot be applied; or whether the arguments of the supporters of the "old wars" theory should be accepted, who note that the fundamental characteristics of war remain unchanged, only the context of war becomes different. The author emphasizes the dehumanization of Russian soldiers by Ukrainian civilians and the military. Based on the analysis of the results of the author's empirical research conducted in March-June 2022 using the method of in-depth semi-structured interviews with Ukrainian civilians, as well as with military personnel and combat veterans, it is concluded that at the stage of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, the attitude of Ukrainians towards Russian soldiers, in particular their dehumanization, has reached an extremely high level. The author emphasizes the differences in the dehumanization of civilians and military personnel by the enemy. It is noted that for civilians, the dehumanization of the enemy simultaneously serves to strengthen the self-identification of their own group as a conductor of humanistic values. The dehumanization of the enemy by the military is characterized by the depersonalization of Russian soldiers, and their destruction is perceived as part of their professional work. The military mostly avoids the moral context in perceiving the enemy. In both groups, both a normative aversion to violence and tolerance of aggression as a response to the enemy based on the desire to destroy it are recorded. The general conclusion is made that classical theoretical constructs on the peculiarities of interaction in intergroup conflicts, in particular in war, can be applied to explain the attitude to the enemy in the case study, which gives grounds to consider "old" and "new" wars as similar, at least in the context of the population's understanding of the events of the war. Possible further directions for theoretical and empirical research on the issues chosen by the author are identified.
Koncepční příloha Metodiky prevence kriminality v sociálně vyloučených lokalitách
In this interview, Randall Collins discusses various aspects of the period at the origin of climate change (1950 to the present), which climate scientists call the Great Acceleration. The interview provides sociologists with a Durkheimian-Weberian understanding of the economic, social, and cultural causes of climate change. The interview focuses on the relationship between material and social energies, with Collins basing his overall argument on the dynamics of capitalism. After WWII, leading capitalist economies had less need for manual labour and were wealthy enough to expand mass education. The universities became the material bases for social mobilizations leading to the sexual revolution and informalization of demeanor. Conflict created by the Cold War pushed dynamics of cultural and material energy to the global stage. This suggests that people from the 20th century were more mobilized and therefore more energized than ever before. Collins envisions future possibilities in this state of heightened energy.
École Urbaine de Lyon: Anthropocene 2050. https://medium.com/anthropocene2050/toward-a-sociology-of-the-great-acceleration-an-interview-with-randall-collins-d9c529f42d2f
The study of interpersonal conflict and violence has long been plagued by the inaccessibility of situations where these interactions take place. To overcome this, we collected and analyzed video footage of 62 real-life conflicts from public spaces in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Through observation and analysis of these videos, we first describe what ordinary conflicts actually look like. Second, we describe the various experiences we had as researchers watching this footage and discuss how these might be related to the nature of the material. Through this analysis, we aim to both describe ordinary conflicts so other researchers will know what to expect of these situations and prepare researchers for what it is like to work with this new and promising empirical material.
Rampage school shootings, where students go to their own school to randomly kill classmates, teachers, friends, and strangers, are among the most drastic types of human behavior. While research increasingly points to interaction dynamics as being key for the emergence of crime and violence, scholars have not yet systematically studied interaction dynamics in school shootings. Further, existing research usually focuses on a handful of cases where many victims were killed and overlook rampages with no or few fatalities. To fill these gaps, my study analyzes interaction dynamics in a full sample of US rampage school shootings. It triangulates novel types of data in a mixed methods approach that combines in‐depth qualitative analyses, cross‐case comparisons, and descriptive statistics. Findings highlight that specific interactional patterns to rampages exist that correlate to whether shootings end in mass killings. Shooters systematically use interactional pathways in which they avoid facing victims. They further show that most shooters are bad at killing, despite motivation and planning. Findings have implications for our understanding of violence and school safety, as well as the role of situational interaction in leading to social outcomes more broadly. Please see video abstract at: https://youtu.be/H7xHMQd5RT0 .
Police authority supposedly guides the actions of police officers. This article reconstructs personal theories on the authority of police by means of qualitative interviews with German police officers and police candidates. These personal theories are divided into four self-schemata composed of: dealing effectively and preferably with possible problems occurring with police work; different normative orders that define the relationship between the police and civil society; a reference to desirable personality traits for police officers; and symbolic representations of police authority. Such self-schemata influence police interactions with citizens and disclose a diversity of police ideas about authority. The different self-schemata of authority seem to originate from different backgrounds such as practical experience of policing, formal education in police colleges, compliance with commonly accepted societal norms like fairness, non-violence, respect and personal convictions. It is discussed how these self-schemata can be constructively reflected in formal police education in Germany. This article contributes to a nuanced understanding of police authority and how this might be integrated into training. Further research should investigate how these schemata can be integrated into a dynamic model and carry out a comparative, intercultural analysis of these personal theories.
Research on territories which have long been subjected to nationalist violence has tended to focus on the most radical manifestations of these struggles and their electoral and institutional consequences. In certain configurations, the involvement of nationalist entrepreneurs in socio‐economic initiatives, environmental causes or women's mobilisations reveals a broadening of activism to a larger political scope. This broadening can contribute to diluting or, conversely, reinforcing purely nationalist demands while creating new opportunities for alliances with non‐nationalist mobilisations. The French Basque region illustrates such a discussion. Basque nationalist politics has not only taken the form of a political movement but has also constituted a culture of citizen opposition in which the nationalist demand is as much an end as support for other struggles, notably socio‐economic ones. The article adopts a socio‐historical approach by going back to the main arenas in which Basque nationalism was formed and the struggles that have shaped it. Once having defined the concept of the culture of civic opposition, the article analyses three historical sequences from the 1970s until the 2020s.
Erich Fromm has long been a forgotten intellectual despite his status as a major critical theorist and sociologist in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s but his work is being returned to with new enthusiasm because of events in the world, developments within sociology and new interest in psychosocial analysis dealing with emotions. This paper theorizes Fromm's return to scholarly influence now, offering analysis of both his reputational fate in light of the rise of global Trumpism and right wing‐populism and the value of the tools his unique merger of Freud, Marx and sociology offers in the contemporary moment.
The problems of social evolution of organized violence are discussed. The barrier to the use of violence as well as the notions of moral progress in history and progress toward a more humane order is difficult to reconcile with the steady increase in the scale and efficiency of the power structures. There are serious arguments against the thesis of a global trend toward less violence and fewer military casualties. The contradiction between trends in the evolution of violence and a humanistic understanding of the meaning of history requires a practical overcoming, a complex and profound scientific and philosophical analysis. A corresponding intellectual and practical challenge confronts contemporary societies, including Russian ones. A successful response to it can become a "growth point" for social, legal, and moral development, the growth of authority, and influence in the international arena.
Objective
This Research Note describes the MAXLab Aggression and Bystander Intervention Scenario Set (MAXLab_ABISS) and provides empirical examples of its applicability. We describe the scenarios, elaborate on the production process, provide technical specifications, and explain how materials can be obtained.
Method
This modular stimulus set, which is currently available in the English, German and Dutch language, includes 360° videos for studying decision-making in interpersonal violence. It offers researchers a complimentary method to collect data on emotions, perceptions, and reactions to violent situations using immersive technology.
Results
Analysis from two samples (n = 101 and n = 55) show the immersive scenarios of the stimulus set are effective at evoking targeted emotional experiences at the moment of a crime decision.
Conclusion
MAXLab_ABISS is a safe and effective tool for studying decision making in real-life, emotion-laden criminogenic settings. We offer insights for how researchers can further use the materials to study decision making related to crime and violence.
The purpose of the study is to integrate sociological and psychoanalytic approaches in the field of social relations, using the example of domestic violence. The subject of the study is domestic violence. Research developed under the ideas of R. Collins, A. Motz and E. Welldon, M. Hirsch, David E. Scharff, R. Stoller. Violence of the weak is one of the types of violence (R. Collins). Affective field, dominance, control and submission are signs of violent interaction. The family is the space where the situation of violence unfolds. A mother figure with power, in the maternal role, can realize her destructive desires and resolve conflicts (E. Welldon, A. Motz). Other types of domestic violence include violence in caring for the sick, the elderly, and in relationships between spouses (often violence against women, submissiveness of women). The author made the following conclusions: 1. Domestic violence is one of the types of violence: violence of the weak. Violence unfolds in a violent situation, with some interaction between the victim and the aggressor. 2. Characteristics of a situation of violence according to R. Collins: affective field, dominance and imposition of will, submission, confrontation, tension, fear, panic, control. 3. Violence is a form of expression of maternal perversion: destructive desires of the mother, hatred (E. Welldon, A. Motz, R. Stoller), dependence, helplessness, sadomasochism (S. Cohen), incest (E.D. Scharff), symbiosis ( J. Bergeret, M. Mahler, J.F. Masterson, D.B. Rinsley). 4. Violence is a reflection of a person’s life history. 5. Domestic violence is possible in a situation of pathological dependence of one subject on another. A healthy form of addiction presupposes the ability to be in an intimate relationship with a significant Other – something that becomes a difficulty for modern people.
This article draws from several months of ethnographic research on gender, embodiment and violence, offering insight into situated (and contradictory) definitions of violence in mixed martial arts (MMA). Analysing interview data, violence is defined conceptually by members of one MMA club in the UK through specific frameworks, in which MMA fighting is regarded as ‘controlled’ violence. MMA skills are expected to be embodied relative to those definitions through bracketing processes, with regulating emotions, the significance of context and power dynamics between individuals fighting being key in categorising distance to ‘real’ violence. Analysing field notes and my own felt difficulties as a participant–observer, however, the navigation of women's bodies in mixed-gender sparring interrupts these categorising features of frame. Despite the acknowledgment of intersubjective and reflexive work to embody physically violent skills appropriately, men distance themselves from women in training. The contributions of the article identify how women's gendered bodies – as performative, normative and regulatory – interrupt the everyday orderliness of ‘control’ and expectations of who ‘does’ violence more broadly. The consequences of these gendered expectations are noted, with indications as to what other forms of violence might be ongoing in this highly gendered space.
Based on three years of ethnographic fieldwork, this article examines face‐to‐face violent interactions in a high‐poverty squatter settlement in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Delving into the situational interactions and biographies of those who simultaneously exercise and suffer violence—victims and perpetrators—we illustrate in fine‐grained detail the concatenations of violence and their political dimensions. Violent concatenations are political in a twofold sense: (1) they are shaped by state (legal and illegal) interventions, and (2) they are understood by both victims and perpetrators as being caused by state actors either directly (in the form of police repression) or clandestinely (in the form of collusion with criminals).
This article is dedicated to find out the impact of social changes and their crisis manifestations on the dynamics of family relations, which is manifested in situations of child-parent interaction in the learning process, as well as to analyze the impact of social changes on manifestations of violence against children. A comparative analysis of joint learning situations in junior grades during the COVID-19 pandemic and under martial law was carried out. The article analyzes the dynamics of changes in parents’ assessment of the learning process and results, the behavior of parents and children in the learning situation. An important task of the research is to identify the dynamics of changes in the risks of violence and the level of violence against children by parents in the joint learning situation. These social changes affect family dynamics and manifestations of parental violence against children.
Sometimes couples speak about a topic, but they know and listeners hear that they are dealing with a completely different topic - how is that possible? We use Conversation Analysis to study a couple's talk, videotaped segements are presented.
Researchers have increasingly emphasized the dynamics of social situations when investigating, for example, encounters between youth at risk and police officers. Based on numerous field observations of police–youth interactions, this article explores how police–youth relations change during different situations. Using a situational perspective as an interpretive lens, I unpack how the dynamics of police–youth relations are dependent upon: (1) the concrete physical space of the interactions, (2) the audiences present and (3) the emotions that are activated. Typically, street-based interactions with other youth as audiences develop in a different manner to interactions at the police station. More sensitivity to the characteristics of such social situations, I conclude, may prove useful to develop more efficient preventive interventions and policing strategies.
Online interactions constitute an ever‐larger part of our everyday lives. However, due to its roots in the study of face‐to‐face encounters, micro‐sociology tends to consider online interaction as a weak substitute for its physical counterpart. The aim of this paper is to critically assess and further develop one of the most influential micro‐sociological theories: Randall Collins' interaction ritual (IR) theory. To this end, we conducted a qualitative, two‐month, longitudinal study of six World of Warcraft players. The players were both interviewed and video‐observed while playing, in order to grasp the emotional and behavioral dimensions of their online IRs. Contrary to the prediction of IR theory, results showed that successful IRs with a high level of collective effervescence do take place in World of Warcraft. As such, the online IRs produced the ritual outcomes of group solidarity, emotional energy, symbols of membership, and standards of morality, which persisted for weeks. Our results add to the emerging evidence that IR dynamics may involve similar social processes in online and offline encounters. This suggests that IR theory, and micro‐sociology more broadly, should place less emphasis on bodily co‐presence when theorizing the realm of online interaction.
Importance
Firearm violence is a major public health problem in the US. However, relatively little research has focused particular attention on firearm violence in rural areas, and few studies have used research designs that draw on exogenous variation in the prevalence of firearms to estimate the association between firearm presence and shootings.
Objective
To investigate the association between the start of deer hunting season and shootings in rural counties in the US.
Design, Setting, and Participants
In this cohort study, data from all rural US counties in states with available data on the timing of deer hunting season were matched with data on shootings from the Gun Violence Archive from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2021.
Exposure
Shootings in the first 3 weeks of deer hunting season were compared with the week prior to the start of deer hunting season.
Main Outcomes and Measures
The main outcome was daily total shootings. The association between the start of deer hunting season and shootings was estimated using Poisson regression models to analyze change within counties while controlling for relevant calendar year, month of year, and seasonal effects.
Results
The sample included 854 rural counties with a mean (SD) population of 16 416 (18 329) per county and 5.4 (13.3) annual shootings per 100 000 people. The county fixed-effects specification analyzing the association between deer hunting season and shootings showed that relative to the week prior to deer hunting season, the incidence rate ratio for total shootings was 1.49 (95% CI, 1.13-1.95) for the first week of deer hunting season and 1.41 (95% CI, 1.02-1.94) for the second week of deer hunting season. Estimates remained consistent when excluding hunting accidents and were most pronounced in states with more hunting licenses per capita.
Conclusions and Relevance
In this cohort study of the association between the start of deer hunting season and firearm violence, results showed that the start of deer hunting season was associated with a substantial increase in shootings. The findings highlight the role of firearm prevalence in gun violence and suggest the need for focused policies designed to reduce firearm violence in areas with substantial hunting activity during the first weeks of deer hunting season.
Adolescents' peer group status in high school was examined using self-report, peer nominations, and archival data collected during 2 consecutive school years. Higher status students (popular and controversial) had more close friends, engaged more frequently in peer activities, and self-disclosed more than lower status students (rejected and neglected). They were also more involved in extracurricular school activities and received more social honors from their schoolmates. Although the higher status students were more alike than different, controversial adolescents did report more self-disclosure and dating behavior than popular students. Lower status students were also highly similar, although rejected students reported lower grades. Regarding the temporal stability of these status groups, the adolescent sample exhibited slightly higher overall stability than that found in previous investigations of younger children.