Michael Blain and Angeline Kearns-Blain have published a new book, “Progressive Violence: Theorizing the War on Terror.”
Abstract: This book examines the role of collective violence in the achievement of solidarity, shedding light on the difficulty faced by sociology in theorizing violence as a result of its tendency to idealize society in order to legitimize the idea of progressive social change. Using the global War on Terror as a focal point, it discusses the related issues of power, knowledge, and ethics, explaining the War on Terror in terms of the Anglo-American tradition of imperial power and domination. Exploring the solidarity produced by the ritual domination and destruction of a ‘villain’, the book also considers the price of the ‘progressive violence’ involved in advancing the moral cause of freedom.
Angeline Kearns-Blain is an author and retired adjunct professor of sociology and women’s studies at Boise State. Her books include “Stealing Sunlight: Growing up in Irishtown” and “I used to be Irish: Leaving Ireland, Becoming American.”