Performances of Violence

the long version

From acts of terrorism to war, from arson to capital punishment, from Sadism to torture, performances of violence are all around us. Sometimes they grab headlines and rivet our attention, sometimes they are barely noticed, constituting part of our taken-for-granted world. Yet whether dramatic or hardly noted, violence seems everywhere to be on the rise. The essays in this volume explore the relationship between selfhood, agency, and violence, focusing on the psychic life of violence and its expression in the performances of particular individuals. At the same time, they look more closely at the way political contexts and ideologies shape both particular performances of violence and the way they are understood. Austin Sarat is William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence & Political Science at Amherst College. Carleen R. Basler is assistant professor of American studies and sociology at Artiherst College. Thomas L. Dumm is professor of political science at Amherst College. --Book Jacket.