Violence Studies – Foundational Theory & Normalised Violence

On-campus cohort has its own class representative; distance cohort’s rep is Mike.
- Email lecturer if interested in becoming the UCSA/UCL A class rep.
Lecturer’s welcome message:
- University period is short, expensive (student debt) → maximize facilities & staff access.
- Visit offices, set appointments, ask, debate.
Today’s lecture = key theoretical foundation for entire course on violence.

Public believes violence is self-evident, but understandings are actually context-specific.
Introduced idea of “normalized violence.”
- Examples already raised: poverty, homelessness, mass incarceration.

Narrow / Minimalist
- Focus = direct, physical, interpersonal acts.
- Requires identifiable perpetrator, victim, intent.
Broad / Comprehensive (course emphasis)
- “Anything avoidable that impedes human realization.”
- Covers structural impediments: homelessness, poverty, lack of opportunity.

Direct violence – visible, interpersonal (tip of iceberg).
Structural violence – slow, indirect, built into institutions (major submerged mass).
Cultural violence – norms & ideologies that justify the structure (supports the iceberg).
Iceberg Model: only visible tip is direct; vast bulk is hidden structural/cultural violence reinforcing each other.

Historical dominance of biological determinism (genes, hormones, “warrior gene”).
- Leads to dangerous policy (eugenics, mass incarceration, elimination).
Course rejects biological determinism → leans on sociological/social-science explanations.

1890s London by-law: husbands asked not to beat wives between 10 pm–7 am (neighbors need sleep).
Human zoos in Western Europe; last French exhibit closed in $1990s$ .
Mediterranean refugee disaster: $78$ drown off Greece; minimal rescue.
- Same week: massive naval search for 2 billionaire tourists in missing sub.
Libya: was richest African nation pre- $2011$ NATO bombing → chaos → migration.
U.S. foreign policy:
- Obama dropped $26{,}000$ bombs in $2016$ , yet says “no place for political violence” domestically.
- Bipartisan support (Dem/Rep) for Israeli actions; $800$ + Palestinians killed at aid points while Netanyahu receives standing ovations in U.S. Congress.
Trump publicly boasts about assassination of Iranian Gen. Soleimani; Clinton laughs about Gaddafi’s death (“We came, we saw, he died”).

The totality of what is said/written/shown about a topic (policy, speeches, media, art, academia).

Smacking law reform in NZ (Sue Bradford bill) shows norms shift.
Current Palestine solidarity aims to de-normalize indiscriminate civilian killing.

Personal, professional, class, cultural experiences shape perception.
Social constructionism: knowledge is produced socially; therefore meanings of violence vary.
- Violence is real, but its definitions, visibility & solutions are constructed.

A system of beliefs/values explaining phenomena and guiding responses.
Everyone has ideology; claiming “non-ideological” usually equals conformity with dominant ideology.

Neo-conservative / Neoliberal: personal failure → ad-hoc charity, conditional shelters, hostile architecture (e.g.
anti-sleep bench dividers, bridge spikes).
Social-democratic / Socialist: symptom of unequal system & housing market → policy for affordability, public housing, rent control, land reform.

Conservatism & Liberalism (rooted in capitalism; differ on cultural issues).
Neoliberalism (late 20th C.): market individualism; market fixes its own problems.
Social Democracy / Welfare State (NZ $1935$ –1980s): state-provided housing, health, education.
Third Way: hybrid of market + welfare (e.g.
Tony Blair, Bill Clinton).
Socialism: private ownership = exploitation; advocates collective ownership.

Material/Economic – assets, land, capital; e.g.
NZ top $10\%$ own $70\%$ of wealth; bottom $50\%$ own $2\%$ .
Discursive – ability to shape narratives (Foucault).
Symbolic/Cultural – credentials, titles, monarchy, linguistic & cultural fluency.
Political – law-making, governance.
Physical/Hard – coercive force, military.
These powers reinforce one another (material → media influence → political sway, etc.).

Weygandt (2008): preventable harm done when no individual actor blocks potential, yet systemic barriers exist.
Also labelled institutionalised violence.

(End of compiled study notes)