Indoctrinability, Ideology and Warfare PDF Download

Author: Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1789203953
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 450

View

Book Description
Violent ethno-nationalist conflicts continue to mar the history of the twentieth century; yet no satisfactory answer to the question of why humans are susceptible to indoctrination by ideologies that lead to inter-group hostility has so far been found. In this volume an international team of leading scientists from many different fields approach this complex issue from a biological perspective, treating indoctrinability as a predisposition that has its roots in humanity's evolutionary past.

Author: Bradley A. Thayer
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813181445
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 692

View

Book Description
“Shows a mastery of research and theory in both biology and international relations and weaves the two fields together in a compelling fashion.” —Dr. Steven A. Peterson, Director, School of Public Affairs, Penn State Pathbreaking and controversial, Darwin and International Relations offers the first comprehensive analysis of international affairs of state through the lens of evolutionary theory. Using ethnological and statistical studies of warfare among tribal societies, Bradley A. Thayer argues that humans wage war for reasons predicted by evolutionary theory?to gain and protect vital resources but also for the physically and emotionally stimulating effects of combat. Thayer demonstrates that an evolutionary understanding of disease will become a more important part of the study of international relations as new strains of diseases emerge and advances in genetics make biological warfare a more effective weapon for states and terrorists. He also explains the deep causes of ethnic conflict by illuminating how xenophobia and ethnocentrism evolved in humans. He notes that these behaviors once contributed to our ancestors’ success in radically different environments, but they remain a part of us. Darwin and International Relations makes a major contribution to our understanding of human history and the future of international relations. “Obligatory reading for social and life scientists alike, and deserves to become a standard work in political science.” —International History Review “A thoughtful book that can challenge some of our comfortable assumptions.” —Journal of Military History “Outstanding! This book will become a standard work in political science.” —Roger D. Masters, Dartmouth College

Author: Patrick James
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313074674
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 286

View

Book Description
James and Goetze bring together contributors of varied backgrounds, ranging from evolutionary theorists to game theorists to analysts of specific ethnic conflict. Their work represents a coherent attempt at evaluating the usefulness of evolutionary theories for explaining ethnic phenomena and demonstrates how these theories can be applied in attempts to elucidate real-world behaviors. This study found that kinship theory that posits evolved dispositions to form cooperative bonds with family, ethnic groups and other social groups may go a long way in accounting for the formation of ethnic groups. Also, ingroup-outgroup theory may contribute to understanding how group conflict commences. Likewise, the description of evolved mechanisms for discerning threat, for building reputations, and for recognizing individuals, groups, and states as possible cooperators and long-term allies may facilitate explanation of the outbreak and avoidance of group conflicts. This also may explain the design of conscious strategies for conflict prevention and resolution. Nonetheless, several contributors take a more critical stance and offer ample reason why building these explanations may prove elusive or at least troublesome given the complex character of human societies. This work is a provocative resource for scholars, students, and other researchers involved with ethnicity and ethnic conflict, international relations, social psychology, and social anthropology.

Author: Dr. Liliya Berezhnaya
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1789201489
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 416

View

Book Description
The “bulwark” or antemurale myth—whereby a region is imagined as a defensive barrier against a dangerous Other—has been a persistent strand in the development of Eastern European nationalisms. While historical studies of the topic have typically focused on clashes and overlaps between sociocultural and religious formations, Rampart Nations delves deeper to uncover the mutual transfers and multi-sided national and interconfessional conflicts that helped to spread bulwark myths through Europe’s eastern periphery over several centuries. Ranging from art history to theology to political science, this volume offers new ways of understanding the political, social, and religious forces that continue to shape identity in Eastern Europe.

Author: Frank K. Salter
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9781571817105
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 328

View

Book Description
Trust is a central feature of relationships within the Mafia, oppressed minorities, kin groups everywhere, among dissidents, nationalist freedom fighters, ethnic tourists, ethnic middlemen, exchange networks of Kalahari Bushmen, and families subjected to Stalinist social control. Each of these types of trust is examined by a leading scholar and compared with the expectations of neo-Darwinian theory, in particular the theories of kin selection and ethnic nepotism. The result is a fascinating, theoretically focused yet empirically eclectic contribution to the overlapping fields of human ethnology, evolutionary psychology, and bio-politics. The common thread uniting these diverse phenomena is a trusting relationship predicated on altruism. Chapters examine the strengths and limits of human trust under various stressers and temptations to defect. By exploring the relationship between kin and ethnic altruism and showing its sensitivity to culture, Risky Transactions recasts the evolutionary approach to ethnicity as a blend of primordial and instrumental factors.

Author: Karl Ernst Nipkow
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351769391
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 247

View

Book Description
This title was first published in 2003. What prevents the human species from finally learning the lessons of social justice and global peace in an unreconciled world? Are Christians better off? Presenting new challenges to moral and religious education, this book clarifies the true image of the biblical God around the topics of justice and reconciliation. Rejuvenating interpretations of the most outstanding traditions of the Old and New Testament, Karl Ernst Nipkow's approach of 'elementarization' - well known in German speaking countries - is introduced for the first time in the English language. Theological perspectives are confronted with data from evolutionary ethics and social psychology, through practice-based examples of the roots of aggression, violence, xenophobia and ethno-centrism. The analysis ends with peace and spirituality in the light of different faiths. This book presents a striking blend of theology, education and the social sciences, to explore central issues in moral and religious education.

Author: Jens Rydgren
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9781571816436
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

View

Book Description
During the last decade and a half a new political party family, the extreme Right-wing populist (ERP) parties, has established itself in a variety of West European democracies. These parties represent a monist politics based on ethnic nationalism and xenophobia as well as an opposition against the 'political establishment'. Being the prototypic ERP party, the French Front National (FN) has been a model for ERP parties emerging elsewhere in Western Europe. This study presents a theoretically based explanation that combines the macro and the micro-level, as well as the political supply and the demand-side. More specifically, this study shows that it is necessary to consider both opportunity structures, created by demand and supply-side factors, as well as the ability of the FN to take advantage of the available opportunities. Of particular interest is the author's analysis of the sociology and attitudes of the FN-voters.

Author: Siniša Malešević
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139488597
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 375

View

Book Description
War is a highly complex and dynamic form of social conflict. This book demonstrates the importance of using sociological tools to understand the changing character of war and organised violence. The author offers an original analysis of the historical and contemporary impact that coercion and warfare have on the transformation of social life, and vice versa. Although war and violence were decisive components in the formation of modernity most analyses tend to shy away from the sociological study of the gory origins of contemporary social life. In contrast, this book brings the study of organised violence to the fore by providing a wide-ranging sociological analysis that links classical and contemporary theories with specific historical and geographical contexts. Topics covered include violence before modernity, warfare in the modern age, nationalism and war, war propaganda, battlefield solidarity, war and social stratification, gender and organised violence, and the new wars debate.

Author: Keith F. Otterbein
Publisher: Waveland Press
ISBN: 1478609885
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 151

View

Book Description
Keith Otterbein, a long-time authority on anthropological studies of warfare, provides a rich synthesis of theory, literature, and findings developed by anthropologists and scholars from other disciplines. This in-depthyet conciselook at warfare opens with two well-known ethnographic examples of warring peoples: the Dani and the Yanomam. The origins and evolution of war, types of warfare, weapons and tactics, military organizations, and the social bases of war structure discussions within the text. Analyses of historical events and case studies inform readers of different perspectives about why people go to war, how societies can be identified as having war, the elements necessary for war, and how war might be avoided. Otterbein concludes the text by presenting the concept of Positive Peacepromoting peace as a goal of human existenceas a way for humans to eliminate the fatal consequences of war.

Author: Jens Rydgren
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9781845452186
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 158

View

Book Description
During the last 15-20 years a new party family of radical right-wing populism (RRP) has emerged in Western Europe, consisting of parties such as the French Front National and the Austrian Freedom's Party, among many others. Contrary to the situation in the other Scandinavian countries, such parties have been largely unsuccessful in Sweden. Although Sweden saw the emergence of the populist party New Democracy - which partly can be classified as a RRP party - in the early 1990s, it collapsed in 1994, and no party has so far been successful enough to take its place. Most of the literature on populism and right-wing extremism deals with successful cases; this book takes the opposite direction and asks how one can explain the failure of Swedish radical right-wing populism.