Tanni Mukhopadhyay (reviewer)
John Keane’s book is an
important intervention in the debate on the persistent proliferation of violence
and its role in political life, especially in democracies. Keane urges the
reader to think cautiously about conceptualizing violence: to pause before
accepting the traditional bifurcation of the topic along the Hobbesian view of
the pre-political ‘‘state of nature” on the one hand and the view of society as
consisting of ‘‘symbiotic, equitable relations among diverse partners held
together by cooperation, friendliness and love’’ on the other. He argues for
conceptualizing violence more ‘‘soberly, with less normative flourish’’—and with
that, there can be little ethical argument.
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