Abstract | Keywords | Export | Availability | Bookmark

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

As collective violence erupts in many regions throughout the world, we often hear media reports that link the outbreaks to age-old ethnic or religious hostilities, thereby freeing the state, its agents, and its political elites from responsibility. Paul Brass encourages us to look more closely at the issues of violence, ethnicity, and the state by focusing on specific instances of violence in their local contexts and questioning the prevailing interpretations of them. Through five case studies of both rural and urban public violence, including police-public confrontations and Hindu-Muslim riots, Brass shows how, out of many possible interpretations applicable to these incidents, government and the media select those that support existing relations of power in state and society. Adopting different modes - narrator, detective, and social scientist - Brass treats incidents of collective violence arising initially out of common occurrences such as a drunken brawl, the rape of a girl, and the theft of an idol, and demonstrates how some incidents remain localized while others are fit into broader frameworks of meaning, thereby becoming useful for upholders of dominant ideologies. Incessant talk about violence and its implications in these circumstances contributes to its persistence rather than its reduction. Such treatment serves in fact to mask the causes of violence, displace the victims from the center of attention, and divert society's gaze from those responsible for its endemic character. Brass explains how this process ultimately implicates everyone in the perpetuation of systems of violence.

Sociology of minorities --- Political philosophy. Social philosophy --- National movements --- India --- #SBIB:309H518 --- #SBIB:324H73 --- #SBIB:309H504 --- Verbale communicatie: sociologie, antropologie, sociolinguistiek --- Politieke verandering: oppositie en minderheid, protest, politiek geweld --- Code en boodschap: sociologische, antropologische benadering --- Ethnicity --- Case studies --- Ethnic relations --- Politics and government --- Riots --- Violence --- Political aspects --- Case studies. --- Violent behavior --- Social psychology --- Civil disorders --- Assembly, Right of --- History --- Offenses against public safety --- Political violence --- Crowds --- Demonstrations --- Mobs --- Street fighting (Military science) --- Ethnic identity --- Group identity --- Cultural fusion --- Multiculturalism --- Cultural pluralism --- Political aspects&delete& --- Indland --- Ḣindiston Respublikasi --- Republic of India --- Bhārata --- Indii︠a︡ --- Inde --- Indië --- Indien --- Sāthāranarat ʻIndīa --- Yin-tu --- Bharat --- Government of India --- インド --- Indo --- هند --- Индия --- Advani, Lal Kishan. --- Aligarh. --- Arya Samaj. --- Ayodhya. --- Babari Masjid. --- Bajrang Dal. --- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). --- Brahmans. --- British rule. --- Chaman Ganj (Kanpur). --- Colonelganj. --- Delhi. --- Deoria district. --- District Magistrate. --- English language. --- First Information Reports (FIRs). --- Gandhi, Indira. --- Hata police station. --- Hindu community. --- Hindu–Muslim relations. --- Indian National Congress. --- Jains. --- Khatikana (Kanpur). --- Lok Dal. --- Nuruddin (pseudonym). --- Parliament. --- Ram. --- army. --- atrocities. --- caste. --- communalism. --- corruption. --- criminals. --- elections. --- faith. --- ideologies. --- law and order. --- methodology. --- pogroms. --- power. --- riots. --- Violence. --- Riots. --- Politics and government. --- Ethnicity. --- Ethnic relations. --- Religija --- Etnični konflikti --- Nasilje --- Inter-ethnic relations --- Interethnic relations --- Relations among ethnic groups --- Acculturation --- Assimilation (Sociology) --- Ethnic groups --- Ethnology --- Social problems --- Sociology --- Minorities --- Race relations --- Political aspects. --- India. --- Indi --- Indii͡ --- Hindu-Muslim relations.