ATS2298 Understanding political violence

This unit will provide you with an overview of contemporary types of political violence, including terrorism, guerrilla warfare, insurgency, revolution, and related forms of violence. You will examine the different ways in which political violence manifests and addresses the questions of motivations for engaging in political violence at both the individual and collective levels. Through case studies, you will examine ways of understanding different forms of political violence in terms of authority and legitimacy, including considering how such types of violence may be considered as both challenges or (perceived) solutions to these concepts. In doing so, the unit will provide you with cultural, economic and political explanations as well as conceptual debates in the field and different strategies for dealing with the threats posed by forms of political violence.