ABSTRACT
The aim of this book is to problematize political violence and its absence from sociological theory, and to offer a corrective. We argue that this problem has been eclipsed by a sunny, progressive, liberal understanding of human society and progress. It theorizes “progressive violence” and the US-inspired global “War on Terror” (WoT) in terms of three interrelated issues: power, knowledge, and ethics. We argue that sociologists have a problem theorizing the phenomena of political violence and its role in human social life. Sociologists have no problem condemning it as “barbarism” or as an “outrageous” violation of the weak and the oppressed—which it absolutely can be. Sociologists have idealized sociality to legitimate their desires for progressive social change. It has also covered up their willing participation in acts of political violence directed against tyrants and terrorists, “enemies of progress,” and “enemies of freedom.” They have ignored or played down the robust evidence presented by historical sociologists that political violence targeting domestic and foreign enemies generates powerful and intense in-group solidarity.
