The Will to Violence: The Politics of Personal Behaviour
Sexual violence, racial violence, and the hatred of foreigners: how should we understand these and other forms of violent human behaviour? A brilliantly original analysis of violence in its many forms. Susanne Kappeler argues that violence is not just a social phenomenon which can be analysed scientifically: rather, it is a type of action which individuals ‘will’ or choose to perform. Kappeler maintains that contemporary culture is one where no one is any longer held responsible for their actions and where the conception of universal responsibility becomes the equivalent of universal acquittal. The Will to Violence is a powerful critique of the structural forces that control our relationships. Eloquent and passionate it exposes a number of assumptions considered fundamental to western philosophical discourse. It contains an important critique of psychoanalysis, discussions of the discourse of racism and the democratisation of violence.
1995 | ISBN 9781875559466 | Paperback | 230 x 155 mm | 288 pp
Reviews
'Kappeler ... takes us through why the personal is political, and where the private comes from, personal communication behaviours, ego-psychology, female desire and the democratisation of violence and relationships as trade.'
–Michelle Mae, Muse
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Violence and the will to violence
Why the personal is political, and where the private comes from
Love of foreigners and love of the ‘other’
Personal communication behaviour is political
Is the political psychological?
Psychotherapy, or the legitimation of irresponsibility?
Ego-psychology, or My relationship and I
Ego-philosophy, or the battle with reality
Sex and the intimate relationship
Female desire, or the democratization of violence
Relationship as trade, or the free market of bodies and services
Needs, or the legitimation or dominance
Identity, or history turned biology
Resistance and the will to resistance
Notes
Index