The Globalization of Insurgent Anti-Police Violence

• In Event: The Changing Character of Global Violence and Innovative Justice Strategies

Abstract

This presentation focuses on the global diffusion of anti-police violence as a tactic of insurgent groups across nations. Our research charts the distribution of this insurgent strategy as an attack on a societal institution rather than a political instrument. It is only in the context of societies that have a democratic polity and have reached a modicum of peace that the police institution can develop into a professional civilian force. In autocratic regimes, conversely, police power will remain very closely tied to the quest of governments to maintain power. When such societies progress towards peace and democracy, a well-functioning civilian police is considered a threat against the aims of insurgent groups interested in destabilization and old or new forms of autocracy. In our research, we show that the globalization of this form of anti-police violence is due to the recognition across insurgent groups of divergent ideological persuasion that a regularly functioning police would be an indicator of a society that is at peace. Our analysis underscores the need to develop a sociology of perpetual war, a reality that is far removed from, yet theoretically inspired by, the Kantian idea of perpetual peace.

Authors

• Mathieu Deflem, University of South Carolina

• Derek M.D. Silva, University of South Carolina

• Anna S. Rogers, University of South Carolina