Violence and Its Alternatives : An Interdisciplinary Reader

The proliferation of violence is arguably one of the most crucial topics of concern in an era of ethnic wars on one hand, and cultural debates about what constitutes violence in arenas of pornography, nationalism, race relations, the media, even environmental issues on the other. This book aims to fill a gap in the literature on violence with a collection of essays from writers in the fields of politics, psychology, sociology, gender studies, and race studies. Methodologically diverse and intellectually wide ranging, it should appeal to specialists, students, and an interested public alike. This collection has two special features: first, a full spectrum of views ranging across disciplines, from treatments of the subject by philosophers such as Hannah Arendt and Frantz Fanon to postmodern considerations of violence embedded in social structures from the likes of Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida and second, an interdisciplinary study of nonviolence, a thoughtful and serious look at the alternatives to violence from spiritual leaders such as Gandhi and Martin Luther. This text is about violence in society, looking at power and its exploitation. Nonetheless, it offers optimism and hope through the systematic exploration of nonviolent strategies for a more peaceful community.