War and State Violence
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| SOCI3042 | Sociology and Social Policy | 3 | 20 | Autumn UK |
- Code
- SOCI3042
- School
- Sociology and Social Policy
- Level
- 3
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Autumn UK
Summary
This module places an in-depth focus on the study of war, state violence and crimes against humanity. Although war has been a relatively permanent feature of human societies, criminology has only recently turned its attention to understanding the violence and ripples of harm it creates. The focus is to explore explanations of current and historical examples of war, drawing on a range of criminological, sociological, philosophical and zemiological (harm) theories.
Module content will introduce students to key theorists, such as Hannah Arendt, Zygmunt Bauman, and Stanley Cohen. The module places a specific focus on injustices faced by the Global South, aiming to provide students with the tools to identify and understand colonial systems, harmful structures, and sites of resistance, both within the module and beyond. Key debates will include how the violence of war and atrocity are made possible; how war intersects with issues of 'race', class, and gender; and what reconciliation efforts of 'truth' and justice might involve after events of mass suffering. The module will also introduce emerging debates on the impact of delivering such violence for state agents (e.g. soldiers).
Target Students
Available to all Level 3 and 4 UG students and PGT students from the School of Sociology and Social Policy.
Classes
This module is taught through a combination of lectures and seminars.
Assessment
- 75% Coursework 1: 3,000 words.
- 25% Coursework 2: 15 minute Group Presentation
Assessed by end of autumn semester
Educational Aims
The aims of the module are to help students to become familiar with: The developing area of ‘criminology and war’ as a subject and contemporary debates about the content and scope of such analyses.Key theoretical perspectives associated with criminology, sociology, and philosophy, and their use in understanding war, state violence, mass harm, 'truth' and justice after events of atrocity.Theoretical understandings of the relationships between war, state violence, social change, and connections to colonial systems, structures, and powers.Learning Outcomes
Students who complete the module should be able to:
- Analyse and contextualise the dynamics underpinning events of war, state violence and crimes against humanity.
- Critically draw upon a range of theories to explain events of war, state violence and atrocity.
- Locate the potential as well as the problems inherent in forms of truth and reconciliation after events of war, state violence and atrocity.
- Identify colonial systems, harmful structures, and sites of resistance to explain historical and current injustices faced by the Global South and by Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic communities (the Global Majority).