Citation

Knüsel CJ, Glencross B. Contagion 2017; 24(1): 23-36.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Michigan State University Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In 2011, Steven Pinker published The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined,1 arguing we are the beneficiaries of the "long peace." The problem with invoking long periods of peace is that they are often fleetingly ephemeral and can rapidly turn to hostility. The very year the book was published marked the beginning of the Arab Uprisings, unforeseen and unplanned for, apparently without historical precedent or analogy. The spiraling violence and polarization, as well as the accompanying refugee crisis that has followed, have demonstrated this was a questionable, if not illusory designation. This sustained violence has profound effects on social consciousness across the political spectrum, ushering in political movements and providing the impetus for policies limiting political liberties and everyday behavior. And this occurs in spite of global organizations dedicated to peaceful resolution of conflicts, court systems and judiciaries in many parts of the world that invoke penal codes rather than capital punishments, and a world that is both materially wealthy and increasingly technologically sophisticated.

Despite of all of these "civilizing" processes, our time is dominated by military and police killings of suspects and opponents--without due justice

Language: en