Against Violence : On the Negation of Difference

In this book I define violence as any act where one person or group imposes themselves upon another without any kind of consent. In defining violence this way, I am contending that consent is important to human flourishing. Consent means autonomy. Autonomy is about owning the consequences and implications of one's actions and decisions. It is also about recognizing that being deprived of this responsibility impedes one's overall development as a human being, such as never developing the capacity and resources to act boldly, responsibly, and independently. Thus, violence impedes the flourishing of life in all its beauty, diversity, and fecundity. Specifically, I focus on how violence impedes, disfigures, and diminishes difference. It robs difference of the conditions, resources, and practices it needs to flourish. Violence singularizes rather than pluralizes. As such, violence constitutes the negation of difference. I also contend that to view violence as the negation of difference makes for a deeper understanding of the ravages that violence inflicts. Moreover, I contend that looking at violence as the negation of difference enlarges our knowledge of the different ways violence enters our lives. Further, I contend that looking at violence this way exposes the many insidious ways we individually and institutionally perpetrate violence. Finally, I contend that looking at violence as the negation of difference expands our moral, political, and epistemological imagination by pushing us to look anew at human potentiality and the practices and conditions that can nurture it.