SLIDE 1
1 2 3
TODAY’S AGENDA
9/11, grievances, and American Foreign Policy Manifestos Grievances and political violence
R EVOLUTION & P OLITICAL V IOLENCE TODAYS AGENDA 1 9/11, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
R EVOLUTION & P OLITICAL V IOLENCE TODAYS AGENDA 1 9/11, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Poli-416: R EVOLUTION & P OLITICAL V IOLENCE TODAYS AGENDA 1 9/11, grievances, and American Foreign Policy 2 Manifestos 3 Grievances and political violence Grievances and armed conflict Intuitive: grievances > motive for
SLIDE 2
SLIDE 3
Grievances and armed conflict
Intuitive: grievances —> motive for insurrection War in very poor parts of the world/countries Groups explain action via grievances
SLIDE 4
Grievances and rationality
Are grievances “rational” explanations for violence? Strictly speaking: probably not Free-riding: public benefits, private costs Low probability of success “Moral commitments” and emotional attachments drive action
SLIDE 5
“Hopeless" violence
SLIDE 6
Local grievances
Problems affecting one group in particular part of the world Rohingya: sufi group living in Buddhist country “state-less” people discrimination, ethnic cleansing Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army
SLIDE 7
Local grievances
Mass detentions, repression of religion of Muslim Uighur community
SLIDE 8
Transnational grievances
Universalistic principles Who does this remind you of? International struggle Systemic change Global group or “ummah”
SLIDE 9
Local meets transnational
Northern Ireland murals Graffiti in St. Louis, MO
Local grievances also map onto international politics
SLIDE 10
The non-aggrieved
Build up of grievances —> armed struggle Sense of injustice, indignity, “can’t take it anymore” Response to repression, violence What, then, about all the “outsiders” who get involved?
SLIDE 11
Americans in the Spanish Civil War
2,800 Americans (illegally) fought in the Spanish Civil War 40,000 international volunteers fought against Franco Lincoln Brigade
SLIDE 12
History repeats itself: The West and the Kurds
SLIDE 13
Westerners in Kurdish conflict with ISIS
PissPigGranddad in Syria
Ideological commitments and sympathy
SLIDE 14
Foreign fighters in ISIS
SLIDE 15
Where do sympathies come from?
Internet and peer networks
SLIDE 16
Where do sympathies come from?
Prisons
Sayyid Qutb
(1906 - 1966), Egyptian author and theorist
SLIDE 17
But not all fighters care about “the cause”
Anomie
“the condition in which society provides little moral guidance to individuals”
Many have weak/no ideological training
Durkheim
No personal stake in conflict Why fight then?
SLIDE 18
War and boredom
Lines up with research showing violent actors often have weak grasp
- f ideology/religion/cause
SLIDE 19
Yukio Mishima on boredom
Author and right-wing nationalist (1925 - 1970) Opposed Japan’s turn to democracy following WWII Tried to inspire a military coup, failed, committed ritual suicide Today: far right symbol
SLIDE 20
The demographic story
Participating in war/violence may give purpose Some societies have large reserves of young, unemployed, unmarried men Sense of alienation, non-belonging, erosion of tradition
SLIDE 21
“Youth bulges” and violence
“A large proportion of young adults and a rapid rate of growth in the working-age population tend to exacerbate unemployment, prolong dependency on parents, diminish self-esteem and fuel frustrations”
SLIDE 22
Where do grievances fall short?
People commit violence because they are: Aggrieved or oppressed Lacking purpose, “bored” Ideologically motivated, sympathetic to int’l plights
SLIDE 23
Where do grievances fall short?
But aren’t these things (roughly) present everywhere?