Amidst the carnage of the First World War, Rosa Luxemburg posed a stark choice for humanity: socialism or barbarism. Violence Today asks if current patterns mark a decent into the barbarism that Luxemburg feared and if a just society, one capable of transcending the endemic violence of the neoliberal order, is possible in the new century.
This powerful and provocative new collection explores the roots of violence — military, terrorist, criminal, and casual — in contemporary society. It analyzes the social context, history, and structure of modern violence, casting light on patterns and practices from America s inner cities and prisons to failed states like Afghanistan. Violence Today also gives special attention to debate within the Left about violence, including a controversial defense of armed struggle.
Contributors: John Berger, Leo Panitch and Colin Leys, Peter Thomas, Vivek Chibber, Christian Parenti, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Georgi Derluguian, Sofiri Joab-Peterside, Ulrich Oslender, Achin Vanaik, Barabara Harriss-White, Lynne Segal, Joe Sim and Steve Tombs, Dennis Rodgers, Avishai Erlich, Philip Green, Garance Upham, Mary des Chenes and Stephen Mikesell, Samir Amin.
