State Violence

doi:10.1017/9781108550710.023

Chapter 22 - State Violence

from Part II - Problems Related to Crime and Violence

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 March 2018

M. Gabriela Torres

Edited by

A. Javier Treviño

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A. Javier Treviño: Affiliation:
Wheaton College, Massachusetts

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Summary

Social scientists define state violence broadly, ranging from direct political violence and genocide to the redefinition of state violence as the neoliberal exit of the state from the provision of social services and the covert use of new technologies of citizen surveillance. State violence, and sometimes the state in and of itself, is clearly a social problem shaping not only the structure of governance but also citizenship and the quality of life of individuals and communities. This chapter provides a guide to the literature on state violence using the much studied case of Guatemala as a focal example. The chapter presents competing concepts on the nature of violence, analyzes the different forms of state violence (genocide, political violence, and juridical violence), and suggests emerging trends in the literature of state violence that lead us to consider structural inequalities, the changing nature of the state, and the incorporation of new technologies of violent governance.

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Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge Handbook of Social Problems , pp. 381 - 398

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108550710.023 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2018

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