Description
Book SynopsisWritten by Hans Joas, one of Europea s leading social theorists. Asks how contemporary social and political thought can come to terms with the ongoing proliferation of war and state violence. Draws on a wide range of material, from World War I and Vietnam to the Gulf War and the conflicts in the Balkans.
Trade Review‘Though war remains central to society, it has been peripheral to recent sociological theory. Hans Joas helps remedy that with penetrating critiques of Marxian, realist and, especially, liberal views of war.’
Michael Mann, University of California “War and Modernity is a path-breaking book which explores in a very incisive way a subject which has not been systematically addressed in the social sciences, namely the relations between war and modernity. Contrary to the optimistic views which see war as a survival of “primitive” urges, Joas shows convincingly how war constitutes a basic component of modernity. The book is a distinct contribution.” S.N. Eisenstadt, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem
"...International Relations scholars should find the analysis of some familiar issues from a different angle illuminating, and they will find some important discussions and reconstructions of social thought in the context of war...much of value to be found in this volume" Bryan Mabee
"A valuable contribution to the reflection of sociology on war and violence." American Journal of Sociology
Table of ContentsPreface vii
Introduction: Wars and Values 1
Part I The Modernity of War 27
1 The Dream of a Modernity without Violence 29
2 The Modernity of War: Modernization Theory and the Problem of Violence 43
3 Ideologies of War: The First World War as Reflected in the Contemporary Social Sciences 55
Part II After War 83
4 After the War: Democracy and Anti-Communism in Berlin after 1945 85
5 After the Cold War: The Collapse of the German Democratic Republic (with Martin Kohli) 95
6 Sprayed and Betrayed: The Experience of Violence in the Vietnam War and its Consequences 111
Part III War and Violence in Social Theory 123
7 Between Power Politics and Pacifist Utopia: Peace and War in Sociology Theory 125
8 Is There a Militarist Tradition in Sociology? 141
9 Sociology after Auschwitz: Zygmunt Bauman’s Work and the Problems of German Self-Understanding 163
10 War the Risk Society? 180
11 War the Teacher? 180
12 Action Theory and the Dynamics of Violence 187
Notes 197
Bibliography 225
Name Index 242
Subject Index 246
