Violence and Warfare in the Work of Norbert Elias

• In Event: 2366 - Section on Peace, War, and Social Conflict Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 2. Peace, War, and Social Conflict: New Methods and Perspectives

Abstract

Sociologists who focus on violence usually have a poorly defined and problematic conceptualization of war. The concept of war in the works of most historical sociologists is inspired by the first wave of ‘war theorists’ or 19th century Nietzschean philosophy. The understanding of warfare among the first wave of ‘warfare theorists’ around the turn of the previous century is strongly related to some form of Darwinist struggle for existence. Unfortunately, modern ‘warfare theory’ unintentionally seems to carry some unexplained elements of a variant of Darwinism and/or Nietzschean philosophy. Warfare as a social phenomenon is observed and it plays an important role in the theories. It is, however, rarely explained why war is such a persistent phenomenon. It often appears to be ‘natural’ and a faculty of human beings.
We need to develop a more robust theory of warfare without any social Darwinistic or Nietzschean undertones. This paper suggests that we have to move towards a theory in which war is conceptualised as a relational concept. War is not defined as an attribute of the state or a result of the actions of the state but it is inherent in the very relationship between states. Here Norbert Elias can help us because he has a more explicit theory of war and violence than most other historical sociologists. Carefully, he attempts to avoid any innate aggressive instinct or a “will to power”. He argues that violence is an intrinsic part of human life and the fact that individuals and states have become more interdependent does not prevent the use of violence as a solution of conflicts. Thus the paper will present Elias’s theory of warfare and discuss its advantages and limitations.

Author

• Lars Bo Kaspersen, Copenhagen Business School