(Re)creative violence

Furtado, Henrique Tavares

Abstract

This contribution builds on my current research in exploring alternative ways of understanding the phenomenon of violence, traditionally conceived of as either a destructive force or a system of injustice. By exploring my personal position navigating between the borders of different versions of Europe (the Swedish border and the walls of gated communities in Brazil) the contribution explains how, in the modern colonial world, violence adopts a (re)creative or (re)creational aspect, fundamentally tying it to a whole economy of playfulness and pleasure. This economy is neither destructive nor necessarily unjust, in the sense that it complicates the liberal duality of inclusion/exclusion, structuring the pursuance of the easy life (a mode of living that maximises convenience) in different levels of (post)colonial racialised ‘enclaves’. The reflection ends with an invitation to take the concept of (re)creative violence seriously and to rethink the specific role of death and insecurity in the making of the international order.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 10, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Aug 18, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022-12
• Deposit Date: Sep 6, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 19, 2024
• Journal: Critical Studies on Security
• Print ISSN: 2162-4887
• Electronic ISSN: 2162-4909
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 10
• Pages: 106-109
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21624887.2022.2111839
• Keywords: Political Science and International Relations, Violence, International Relations, Borders, Gated Communities, Leisure
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9905185
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21624887.2022.2111839
• Additional Information: Peer Review Statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope.; Aim & Scope: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=rcss20; Published: 2022-08-18