The History of Violence

Bitesize Theory - Realism in International Relations

So, this is a bit of a change of pace, but I've decided to mix it up a bit and do some super short episodes focused on theories related to violence. This will cover some of the main historical, sociological and international relations theories. I'll still be doing longer episodes and interviews, these are just a bonus! I'm hoping they could be useful to students, but also interesting for everyone else.

Today I'm going to run-through Realism, probably the most influential international relations theory, which has a heavy focus on war. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Stick em' with the pointy end - A cultural history of swords

Swords fell out of common use over 100 years ago, but have maintained a central place in the poplar imagination around war and conflict. Even SciFi heroes use futuristic swords!

From status symbols to religious icons, how did swords become so culturally significant? And why have they remained so today?

INTERVIEW -Victorian Election Violence Project

We have a bit of a change of format today. In honour of the upcoming devolved and local election in the UK we have a really interesting interview with Dr Patrick Kuhn (@patmkuhn) from the Causes and Consequences of Electoral Violence: Evidence from England and Wales, 1832–1914 project (@VictorianEV_UK). 

There's a great discussion of the project and how we can use history to learn about modern forms of violence. There are also some pretty great stories about the more whimsical side of Victorian elections!

Check out the project for loads of great blog posts and updates, with some longer publications coming from them later in the year.

 

TRAILER - Victorian Election Violence

This is a trailer for our upcoming interview with Dr Patrick Kuhn from the Victorian Election Violence Project. The Full episode is out on the 30th of April!

Drones, Kill Lists and the Future of Warfare

Apparently there are some issues with the Spotify version of this upload! The full episode is live on Podbean, iTunes and Stitcher, and I am working on updating Spotify. Cheers!

We are back (after a small technical snafu) with an episode about the history, and the present of drone warfare. We will also be back next month with an extra special interview episode! 

Militarisation, Radicalisation and Policing in America.

This week we are back after a long hiatus. This episode discusses the recent Black Lives Matter Protests, the police response, violent escalation and the long-term politicization of law enforcement in the USA.  It's more of a brief overview than a deep dive, but I hope you enjoy it.

Imperialism, Sykes - Picot and the making of the Middle East

The fall of the Ottoman Empire allowed the Western imperial powers to start reshaping the Middle East. Through a series of ill-conceived and half-realized schemes they created today's borders and many of today's problems. In this episode, the first of a series charting the historical roots of contemporary Middle Eastern conflicts, we discuss how political jockeying around the post-Ottoman political settlement continues the affect regional and international conflicts. This involves a whistlestop tour of the Ottoman Empire's approach to ethno-religious diversity, the Sykes - Picot agreement, the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence and the Balfour declaration. Apologies as always for my pronunciation!

Guns, Ghosts, Guilt and the Gilded Age

Sarah Winchester's Mystery House was built on the fortune produced by "The Gun that Won the West." But is there any truth to the legend of the guilt-ridden widow and the house full of ghosts?

We talk about the role of the Winchester rifle in the Westward expansion of the United States, the competing explanations for the Winchester Mystery House and what this says about how we remember colonialism. 

al-Baghdadi, Leadership Targeting and the Future of ISIS

With the recent death of ISIS leader Abū Bakr al-Baghdadi, attention has been focused on what this means for the future of the group he led. But what does the current evidence suggest about the effects of killing militant leaders?

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGvep_E1Owk 

Jordan, Jenna. "When heads roll: Assessing the effectiveness of leadership decapitation." Security Studies 18, no. 4 (2009): 719-755.

 

Jordan, Jenna. Leadership decapitation of terrorist organizations. Stanford University Press, 2019.

 

 

Price, Bryan C. "Targeting top terrorists: How leadership decapitation contributes to counterterrorism." International Security 36, no. 4 (2012): 9-46.

 

Johnston, Patrick B. "Does decapitation work? Assessing the effectiveness of leadership targeting in counterinsurgency campaigns." International Security 36, no. 4 (2012): 47-79.

 

Phillips, Brian J. "How does leadership decapitation affect violence? The case of drug trafficking organizations in Mexico." The Journal of Politics 77, no. 2 (2015): 324-336.

Moral Panic! At the Arcade

Today we talk about Stanley Cohen, the roots of moral panic and the anti-gamer conspiracy. 

 

Gamers rise up!!!