Short Abstract

Violence can obviously be expressed physically, but violence can be expressed in other ways: verbally, metaphorically, visually, legally, politically, even mimetically. This panel considers non-physical expression of violence in African societies, whether episodic or structural, verbal or non-verbal

Long Abstract

Violence comes in many forms. In Africa, as elsewhere, and most obviously, violence can be expressed physically in wars, civil conflict and criminal violence, and has been copiously commented upon and analysed, by political scientists, historians, anthropologists and others. But violence can also be expressed in other ways: verbally, through insults and threats; metaphorically, through images such as those portrayed in Rouche's Les Maîtres Fous; visually, through gestures and bodily comportments; legally, through the promulgation of laws that infringe individual's rights; politically, such as interference in electoral processes; or mimetically, such as Girard's scapegoating. None of these expressions of violence necessarily result in physical violence, but are violent nonetheless and may even achieve the aims of domination and submission that would otherwise be produced physically.

We call for papers that consider the non-physical expression of violence in African societies, whether episodic or structural. How is non-physical violence instrumentalised? How does non-physical violence do the work of physical violence? Is non-physical violence sufficient to achieve the aims of the group practicing it? Is the threat of physical violence always required in order for non-physical violence to achieve its aims? What is the link between verbal violence and negotiation of (non-)belonging? Given the performativity of language, how do discourses about difference naturalize hierarchy and domination and how can we understand differentiation in language and communication in society? We welcome contributions that theorise the mechanisms, effects, and contested meanings of non-physical violence in African contexts.

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