By looking at the problem of complicity in political violence from a social versus a legal perspective, The Politics of Conflict offers readers new insight into the ways in which violence operates. To do this, Monica Ingber applies Gilles Deleuze's analysis of the novellas of Leopold Sacher-Masoch, particularly Venus in Furs, to the politics of violence in Iraq. Specifically, Ingber develops the concept of transubstantiatory violence, to think through the relationship between social complicity and political violence. By assessing politics in Iraq through the lens of transubstantiatory violence, it becomes possible to see how social complicity validates what would be otherwise viewed as illegitimate forms of violence. This legitimization of violence is addressed through the problematization of the modern correlation of security, law, and the social contract by exploring three key areas of socio-politics: state-making and nation-building, political movements, and the popular militia. A serious study that makes important contributions to political science, political philosophy, and conflict studies, The Politics of Conflict demonstrates an alternative view of violence that is provocative in its ability to destabilize dominant understandings of regime violence and the counter-reactions of opposition movements.

Monica Ingber is a visiting research fellow in the York Centre for International and Security Studies at York University.

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“The Politics of Conflict is on the cutting-edge of contemporary political theory. The development of key concepts such as ‘transubstantiatory violence’ and ‘chthonic security’ constitutes a significant contribution to this area of theoretical inquiry, and the development of these concepts in analyzing discourses and actions related to state violence is both elegant and fruitful.” Steve Bailey, York University