Violence in Society Books - Page 2

Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument With Historical Illustrations

Michael Walzer

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

All Is Not Fair in Love and War 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 12 people found this review helpful.

Walzer's historical approach to examining just war theory is, I think, the most useful way to understand morality in war. That is so because empirical facts back up all the philosophical evaluations. Walzer describes experience and draws conclusions here; he is laying a philosophical foundation and implying, if not prescribing, moral norms from which the rules have been extracted. Be forewarned, he does not cut the reader any slack. This book requires some serious attention to the author's train of thought.

Just war theory has two categories: the justice of going to war, and the justice of fighting once in a war. Walzer's discussion usefully and clearly separates the two and examines via historical events what we regard as right and wrong within each sphere. In doing this he has done the modern world a tremendous service. His logical breakdown speaks to thousands of years of tradition about what thinkers have considered right and wrong in war. One of the best outcomes of this landmark work is the complete debunking of the notion that "all is fair in love and war." That is the path of least moral resistance (or as Clausewitz would say, "friction"), yet we all know that soldiers are honored for fighting well and loathed for behaving like armed thugs and murderers. What is amazing from the discusion is the realization that Walzer knows he has to attack that age-old notion, something our collective sense of justice has historically always rejected. Yet it remains a prevailing idea for many. Originally coined by the Romans it seems (Walzer quotes them, "In war the laws are silent"), they themselves were self-consciously contrite over the fates they inflicted on the Greeks and Carthaginians. The book rates five stars for rigorously addressing this issue alone.

Some make the mistake of thinking Walzer is a pacifist--far from it. On the otherside some critics find his argument about "supreme emergency" a moral failure and a cop-out. The case of Nazi Germany is his paradigmatic case of supreme emergency, one where normal rules may be relaxed, if ever so little, because of the especially pernicious nature of state-sponsored genocide. In contrast Walzer does not see Imperial Japan, for instance, as having represented a supreme emergency, and so the atomic bombings and the fire bombings of cities could not be morally justified. Readers may want to compare his view to Paul Fussell's perspective in the essay "Thank God for the Atom Bomb." Walzer's argument here has lent unintended tacit support to many ideas about torturing terrorists at Gitmo and elsewhere. It's pretty obvious Dick Cheney, for instance, thinks the same relaxation of restraints would apply to Islamic terror (but the analogy seems weak). I recommend readers to Tim Challans' book Awakening Warrior for a critique of Walzer's idea of supreme emergency and a very impressive logical attack upon the recent trend toward torturing POW's in prisons outside the USA.

Significantly for current events, readers interested in the distinction between pre-emptive and preventive war will find a well articulated argument in Just and Unjust Wars. The US attack on Iraq was and still is often justified as pre-emptive. That impulse on the part of the neo-conservatives who devised or whipped up the casus belli reflects, I think, a need to cloak a morally questionable war in the robes of legitimacy. There is no way that attack can be justified under the historically accepted norms of "pre-emption." Michael Walzer's well-thought distinction between pre-emption and prevention makes sense even in the milieu of asymmetric warfare against terror and Islamic radicalism, and it clearly shows why the Iraq war was a moral mistake from the start, regardless of its practical success down the road, if we are fortunate enough to see that. The moral precedent of engaging in preventive war will continue to haunt America long into the future. The fact that Iraq was not even on the spectrum where the fine line between pre-emption and prevention exists is a telling aspect of the overall ongoing strategic fiasco. Where one fails to recognize the moral high ground, one is doomed to moral failure. Walzer was vocal about the run-up to war in 2003, and those who read his book would do well to find his comments about the Iraq invasion; they are edifying in terms of understanding the overall argument in this book and, not coincidentally, where we are going in this role as the world's police force.

Editorial Review:

A classic treatment of the morality of war written by one of our country’s leading philosophers, with a new introduction considering the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo. Just and Unjust Wars examines a variety of conflicts in order to understand exactly why, according to Walzer,“the argument about war and justice is still a political and moral necessity.” Walzer’s classic work draws on historical illustrations that range all the way from the Athenian attack on Melos to this morning’s headlines, and uses the testimony of participants—decision makers and victims alike—to examine the moral issues of warfare.

Economic Gangsters: Corruption, Violence, and the Poverty of Nations

Raymond Fisman, Edward Miguel

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Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Meet the economic gangster. He's the United Nations diplomat who double-parks his Mercedes on New York City streets at rush hour because the cops can't touch him--he has diplomatic immunity. He's the Chinese smuggler who dodges tariffs by magically transforming frozen chickens into frozen turkeys. The dictator, the warlord, the unscrupulous bureaucrat who bilks the developing world of billions in aid. The calculating crook who views stealing and murder as just another part of his business strategy. And, in the wrong set of circumstances, he might just be you.

In Economic Gangsters, Raymond Fisman and Edward Miguel take readers into the secretive, chaotic, and brutal worlds inhabited by these lawless and violent thugs. Join these two sleuthing economists as they follow the foreign aid money trail into the grasping hands of corrupt governments and shady underworld characters. Spend time with ingenious black marketeers as they game the international system. Follow the steep rise and fall of stock prices of companies with unseemly connections to Indonesia's former dictator. See for yourself what rainfall has to do with witch killings in Tanzania--and more.

Fisman and Miguel use economics to get inside the heads of these "gangsters," and propose solutions that can make a difference to the world's poor--including cash infusions to defuse violence in times of drought, and steering the World Bank away from aid programs most susceptible to corruption.

Take an entertaining walk on the dark side of global economic development with Economic Gangsters.

Hope's Boy

Andrew Bridge

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 56 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

An Amazing Story 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I am a fan of PBS, particularly Tavis Smiley. It was on Tavis' show that I listened to Andrew Bridge talk about his story and his book. His comments were so genuine, so heartfelt, I couldn't get him out of my mind. Although I don't normally read memoirs, I knew I wanted to read his book.

I don't know much about foster care, but I do know about being adopted back when records were sealed and information was hidden. I suspected there may be some shared experiences and feelings between the two, and I was right. As I read Bridge's account, I was moved to tears many times when he said that he never forgot his mother and he never stopped loving her. He writes with such depth and feeling, but also with such simplicity and honesty about growing up in a foster family that may have shared space, but never shared love.

His story is one of triumph, over his circumstances, and over an uncaring system. He is now an advocate for children and for change, and I believe is a remarkable writer and human being. I could not recommend this book any higher, it is a masterpiece.

Editorial Review:

From a disastrous decade in foster care to Harvard Law School and beyond: this is the profoundly moving memoir of one boy who beat the system.

Violence: Big Ideas/Small Books

Slavoj Zizek

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Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Philosopher, cultural critic, and agent provocateur Slavoj Žižek constructs a fascinating new framework to look at the forces of violence in our world.

Using history, philosophy, books, movies, Lacanian psychiatry, and jokes, Slavoj Žižek examines the ways we perceive and misperceive violence. Drawing from his unique cultural vision, Žižek brings new light to the Paris riots of 2005; he questions the permissiveness of violence in philanthropy; in daring terms, he reflects on the powerful image and determination of contemporary terrorists.

Violence, Žižek states, takes three forms--subjective (crime, terror), objective (racism, hate-speech, discrimination), and systemic (the catastrophic effects of economic and political systems)--and often one form of violence blunts our ability to see the others, raising complicated questions.

Does the advent of capitalism and, indeed, civilization cause more violence than it prevents? Is there violence in the simple idea of "the neighbour"? And could the appropriate form of action against violence today simply be to contemplate, to think?

Beginning with these and other equally contemplative questions, Žižek discusses the inherent violence of globalization, capitalism, fundamentalism, and language, in a work that will confirm his standing as one of our most erudite and incendiary modern thinkers.

Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence

Rory Miller

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 45 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The real deal 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I bought this book several months ago. And then I bought another copy for my son. After having read it, my son gave his copy to our good friend, a prison guard in the local county prison. And, after having read the book, our friend told my son that "it is as [Sgt. Miller] says it is."

After having read this book, I deleted my initial review for John Perkins "Attack Proof." No, there is nothing wrong with Perkins' book. In fact, it's categorically awesome--just like "Mediations on Violence" is! I highly recommend both, and I highly recommend that the prospective buyer buy both "Meditations" AND "Attack Proof" and read them one after the other. I removed my initial review because in that review, I recalled an incident in which I had to defend myself. I tried to briefly yet humbly relate how I had to fight to save my life, and how I defeated the huge man who attacked me. But Sgt. Miller has taught me that (1) when I wrote that, though I thought I was humble, I was not; and that (2) outside of the sports arena (i.e., with its "controlled" and "watered-down" fighting), there is no such thing as "a fair fight." Actually, outside of sports, there is no so-called "fight": it's just pure, raw "violence."

Rather than iterate what so many viewers have already said, I'd like to point out a correlation, again regarding "Meditations" and "Attack Proof." Sgt. Miller, in Section 5.5 (The Whole Enchilada) lists "Training Phase 2: Before the Assault." At this point, this is where I find John Perkins' work extremely useful. And, no, I'm not saying that Perkins (or any martial expert) has the definitive answer, but I'm saying that the average person would greatly benefit by incorporating most of John Perkins' techniques into his or her training/preparation regimen.

Specifically regarding Sgt. Miller's awesome work, well, I can say with certainty that this is a "six-star" book. If you're looking for techniques, bravado, and macho, you will not find it here. This man, 5 foot 9 inches, maybe 145 pounds--the same size as I am--is a better man than I'll ever be. The book is well worth the cover price--for the wisdom he demonstrates, the sound knowledge he shares, the huge heart that he carries under his uniform, and the humility that makes him a priceless man.

Joseph L. D'Agostino, author of "Modern Music Systems: a new perspective on music scales, clefs, and chords"

Editorial Review:

Veteran correction officer Sergeant Rory Miller distills what he has learned from jail house brawls, tactical operations and ambushes to explore the differences between martial arts and the subject martial arts were designed to deal with: Violence. Miller explores the complexity of violence, critical thinking, and the mind of the predator. He offers martial arts training guidance and resources, discusses how to overcome personal fears, and how to deal with the aftermath of violent encounters.

Africa's World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe

Gerard Prunier

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 1.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Rwandan genocide sparked a horrific bloodbath that swept across sub-Saharan Africa, ultimately leading to the deaths of some four million people. In this extraordinary history of the recent wars in Central Africa, Gerard Prunier offers a gripping account of how one grisly episode laid the groundwork for a sweeping and disastrous upheaval.
Prunier vividly describes the grisly aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, when some two million refugees--a third of Rwanda's population--fled to exile in Zaire in 1996. The new Rwandan regime then crossed into Zaire and attacked the refugees, slaughtering upwards of 400,000 people. The Rwandan forces then turned on Zaire's despotic President Mobutu and, with the help of a number of allied African countries, overthrew him. But as Prunier shows, the collapse of the Mobutu regime and the ascension of the corrupt and erratic Laurent-Desire Kabila created a power vacuum that drew Rwanda, Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe, Sudan, and other African nations into an extended and chaotic war. The heart of the book documents how the whole core of the African continent became engulfed in an intractible and bloody conflict after 1998, a devastating war that only wound down following the assassination of Kabila in 2001. Prunier not only captures all this in his riveting narrative, but he also indicts the international community for its utter lack of interest in what was then the largest conflict in the world.
Here then is a gripping eyewitness account of the most bloody upheaval of recent times, a book of passionate and unblinking intensity that is our best record to date of one of the great tragedies of the post-Cold War era.

A Volcano in My Tummy: Helping Children to Handle Anger

Eliane Whitehouse, Warwick Pudney

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Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A Volcano in My Tummy: Helping Children to Handle Anger presents a clear and effective approach to helping children and adults alike understand and deal constructively with children's anger. Using easy to understand yet rarely taught skills for anger management, including how to teach communication of emotions, A Volcano in My Tummy offers engaging, well-organized activities which help to overcome the fear of children's anger which many adult care-givers experience. By carefully distinguishing between anger the feeling, and violence the behavior, this accessible little book, primarily created for ages 6 to thirteen, helps to create an awareness of anger, enabling children to relate creatively and harmoniously at critical stages in their development.

Through activities, stories, articles, and games designed to allow a multi-subject, developmental approach to the topic at home and in school, A Volcano in My Tummy gives us the tools we need to put aside our problems with this all-too-often destructive emotion, and to have fun while we're at it.

Elaine Whitehouse is a teacher, family court and private psychotherapist, mother of two and leader of parenting skills workshops for eight years. Warwick Pudney is a teacher and counsellor with ten years experience facilitating anger management, abuser therapy and men's change groups, as well as being a father of three. Both regularly conduct workshops.

AMONG THE THUGS

BILL BUFORD

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Total reviews: 69 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Don't Believe Pretentious Twits 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is a fantastic book, and what's more, it has served as a model and inspiration for the many (many, many) football hooligan books that followed.

I won't really comment on the absolute cliched tripe served up by one reviewer who gave this book one star, but I would point out that he might want to take some time out from an all-knowing banality spouting, error decrying, schedule, and consult a calendar.

Among The Thugs - 1993. Most of the others? 1999 and later, including the 2005(!) Gardner tome. This book, almost alone, spawned a veritable minor industry of Football Hooligan memoirs and reportage. Don't believe me? Head over to amazon.co.uk and check it out all the related items with this book over there.

By the way, I think it was sort of the point of the experiment that an editor of a (very popular in the right circles) literary magazine like Granta went and did what he did, and reported what he saw. And in the Granta tradition, he expounds a bit on What It All Means. That gets a little dull at times, but by no means lessens the overall interest of the book.

Among the Thugs is not meant to be a piece of documentary journalism, oral history, or a PhD thesis. It's a subjective and personal account, and the author makes no bones about that. The author did, objectively, get beaten to a pulp by Italian cops, so there's some credibility right there.

The Communist Manifesto and Other Revolutionary Writings: Marx, Marat, Paine, Mao Tse-Tung, Gandhi and Others (Dover Thrift Editions)

Bob Blaisdell, Marx, Gandhi

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Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Absurd? I don't think so... 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

The reviewer "Scott" argues that the Communist Manifesto is "degrading", and I'd like to know exactly "for whom/what"? Sounds like Scott is either a boss who'd like to see the revival of the "Golden Age of Capitalism" (the Industrial Revolution, which included sub-living wages, child labor, forced overtime, 12-15 hour days, no worker's rights, etc.). Or, more likely, he has never read the Communist Manifesto, which contains within it nothing that is degrading for the working and poor classes, but is in fact a dignifying and uplifting rally-cry for the working class.

Only a person that has never read the Communist Manifesto, or a person belonging to the priveleged class, could argue, honestly, that the Manifesto was degrading. Scott, you should be ashamed.

(By the way, Marx was not the rabid anti-capitalist, pro-Statist, everyone thinks he was - he was in fact the rightful heir to the Paine, Smith, Mill, etc. He followed their arguments to their logical conclusions, and he could not reject history and what capitalism had become by his time. As had been said about communism time and time again, capitalism "is a great idea but doesn't work" - not in the long run, not for the working class. Rather, capitalism had went from liberating people in the 17th and 18th centuries to enslaving them in the 19th and 20th - and 21st - centuries. Marx, like the "founding fathers" of America, had realised that CERTAINLY man needs land/resources to be free, but unlike the founding fathers he was around to see that monopolies were an inevitability in capitalism, and that the population would grow too large for there to be enough land and resources to go around without SHARING. "Private property" had become, by this time, a means of forcing latecomers into service in exchange for table scraps. And of course, the capitalists had abandoned their belief in liberty and human welfare and had become dependent upon the State to protect their hordes of unused/horded wealth and property. Forget the fact that they didn't need all the land and resources they "owned legally", and forget the fact that there were people that DID need it bud didn't have it, and forget the fact that the choice between starvation and work is NOT "freedom" but coercion - forget all this. What became important for the capitalists long before socialism, anarchism, and communism became attractive alternatives to capitalism was not people, but profit. Marx simply was more of a libertarian than the capitalists of his day.)

Editorial Review:

This concise anthology presents a broad selection of writings by leading revolutionary figures of the world. Spanning three centuries, the works include such milestone documents as the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789), and The Communist Manifesto (1848). Also included are writings by the Russian revolutionaries Lenin and Trotsky; Marat and Danton of the French Revolution; in addition to selections by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Tom Paine, Emma Goldman, Mohandas Gandhi, Mao Tse-tung, and others. An essential collection for anyone interested in the issues, ideas, and history of the major revolutions of modern times, this book will also find an eager audience among students. Dover original selection of writings from standard editions.

In Conflict and Order: Understanding Society (11th Edition) (MySocKit Series)

D. Stanley Eitzen, Maxine Baca Zinn

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Why i decided to minor in sociology 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book is a great introductory reader in social problems. It is however biased and incomplete. The book leans more towards the conflict perspective than functionalism, which is fine for me because i can't stand functionalism but may not be fine for individuals who want extensive information on functionalism more than the same basic approach which every intro textbook seems to give. I also had problems with the incompleteness of this textbook. I found it relevant to today's problems but would have enjoyed more historiography in the book.

Gripes aside, this textbook is a great way to get introduced to the wonderful world of sociology. If you disagree with this text however, look at it this way, at least you learned a lot about conflict theory!

Editorial Review:

This introductory text, written from a conflict perspective, emphasizes four themes: diversity, the struggle to achieve social justice, economic and global transformations in the U.S., and a global perspective. In Conflict and Order studies the forces that lead to both stability and change in society. As they examine the standard topics in an introductory course, the authors show how social problems are structural in origin. While the pace of social change is increasing, society's institutions are resistant to change. Eitzen and Baca Zinn challenge students to develop a sociological perspective by questioning their own basic beliefs, and to debate the facts rather than merely accepting the authors' way of looking at the world.