COLLECTIVE VIOLENCE IN EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE (FROM VIOLENCE IN AMERICA - HISTORICAL AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES, V 1 - SEE NCJ-00763

• NCJ Number: 6973
• Author(s): C TILLY
• Date Published: 1969
• Length: 30 pages
• Corporate Author: National Commission on the Causes & Prevention of Violence
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: CHAPTER 1, P 5-34

Annotation

HISTORICAL EXAMINATION OF THE SOCIAL PROCESSES BEHIND THE OCCURRENCE OF VARIOUS FORMS OF GROUP VIOLENCE.

Abstract

THE AUTHOR DIVIDES COLLECTIVE VIOLENCE INTO THREE CATEGORIES REFLECTING THE CAUSES OF THE DISTURBANCES AND THE TIMES OF THEIR OCCURRENCE. PRIMITIVE VIOLENCE OCCURRED ON A LOCAL SCALE BEFORE THE CENTRALIZATION OF THE EUROPEAN STATES. IT INVOLVED RIVALRIES BETWEEN GUILDS OR COMMUNES, FEUDS, AND RELIGIOUS HOSTILITY. REACTIONARY VIOLENCE BEGAN WITH THE GROWTH OF NATIONALISM WHEN LOCAL COMMUNAL GROUPS RESISTED INTEGRATION INTO THE NATIONAL STATE AND ECONOMY. THE TRANSITION FROM REACTIONARY TO MODERN VIOLENCE TOOK PLACE BETWEEN 1840 AND 1940. MODERN COLLECTIVE VIOLENCE SPRINGS FROM THE FORMATION OF SPECIALIZED ASSOCIATIONS WITH WELL-DEFINED OBJECTIVES, ORGANIZED FOR POLITICAL OR ECONOMIC ACTION, AND MADE POSSIBLE BY URBANIZATION AND INDUSTRIALIZATION. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT COLLECTIVE VIOLENCE IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE WESTERN POLITICAL PROCESS - THE PRIMITIVE FORM INVOLVING GROUPS HOLDING POSITIONS IN THE POWER STRUCTURE, THE REACTIONARY INVOLVING GROUPS LOSING SUCH POSITIONS, AND THE MODERN INVOLVING GROUPS TRYING TO ACQUIRE THEM. (MODIFIED AUTHOR ABSTRACT)