Agenda - work schedule VERSÃO PORTUGUESA

2021

English students must read Violence in society and

use the left column links, on "Eng"

course work is:

a) reading of previewed class texts and summaries

b) each group of students (1 or 2 students) must choose at once the empirical case of violence they want to work with and send an email to the teacher (apad@iscte-iul.pt) - names of the students; case name; a web reference from it

c) to study violence as a sociological subject. (Violence in society), APD, 2014

d) course evaluation:

February, 23th - case title delivery

March, 16th - written description of violence case delivery (minimum 3500 characters) using internet information 10%

April, 13th - written description delivery of the discrimination of violent and contra violent actions chains involved in the case (minimum 7000 characters) - zoom out and zoom in the case (structure and psychological effects). Test of the use of "reduction to the body" definition of violence, avoiding moralism. 20%

April, 27th - methodological research plan delivery (minimum 2000 characters) 30%

May, 24th - final report delivery (25.000-70.000 characters): complete sociological analysis of violence involved in the case study, framed by social values in use. 40%

2018

English students must read Violence in society and

use the left column links, on "Eng"

course work is:

a) previous reading of previewed class texts

b) each student must choose immediately his/her empirical case of violence and start studying it sociologically. Course evaluation is about the final report of the study.

February, 12th - case title delivery

February, 26th - written description of violence case (minimum 3500 characters) delivery

March 19th - written description delivery of the description of violent and contra violent actions chains involved in the case (minimum 7000 characters) - zoom out and zoom in the case (structure and psychological effects). Use "reduction to the body" definition of violence and avoid moralism.

April 9th - methodological plan delivery (minimum 2000 characters)

May  20rst - final report delivery (25.000-70.000 characters): complete sociological analysis of violence involved in the case study, framed by social values in use.

2017

Each student will analyse sociologically the use of dirty words,

as symbolic violence

Till March 26th, using the sociological definition of violence, describe violence and contra violence fluxes in your story. Zoom out and zoom in in your story to find the adequate approach to violence in society shown by the case. Considering violence as an aspect of every day social lives, before one has the opportunity to access as good or bad. 

Till February 19th, each student will write down a story that include the use of a curse word. The story should be written in English. But the cursing should happened in the mather language of each student. Etimological background of the cursing word should be disclosed.

The individual work is to produce a sociological analisys of the violence involved, using the definition of violence and the description of the main struture of organization given by the teacher.

Violence as "reduction to the body" and organization based on misoginy, elitism and dissimulation.

2015

Work stage 2.

Students must follow the assignments for the 16th and the 23rd March.
 

Work stage 1. (till February, the 23th)

I. Portfolio on Paris-Charlie Hebdo events, January 7th, 2015:

II. Description of each student personal experience when confronted with the news about the events; to choose a source (newspapers, blogs, TVnews) and a special episode to deal with during the course.

a) chose the small episode you would study in detail (the preparation of the attack, the action of execution of the cartoonists, the local social support for the killers, the Syria or Yemen connections, the intelligence role, the police action to avoid the crime, the action at the jew supermarket, the Paris demonstration in support of the cartoon newspaper, the Pope statment on the subject, or other)

b) chose several sources of information on the chosen subject: describe what you learn with each source, focusing on agreements and contradictions between sources describing facts (build a table using a column for each source)

c) describe the points of view of the different sources and compare them (about one page writing)

d) comment on the episode: who were right and who was wrong (pragmatic and moral issues involved)? Who were protagonists (aggressors and victims, what former relationship has support or avoid violence, what weapons were available and what was used and why); what was the effect of social environment of the event (state citizens relationship, local people relationship, historic moment) (about 1 page).

e)  What has been the chance to avoid and prevent violence, both before the event and for the future? What can we do about it? (1/2 page)

2014

Work stage 4.

Identify social secrets that intervene in the violent scenario you are describing

Work stage 3.

Space, time and level to be considered referring to violence case.

Stigma, poverty trap, prison revolving doors: characterization of social syndromes (social building of interaction, control and imagination)

Work stage 2.

Characterization of the violent event mentioned at the first stage through presentation of all information you have about: a) the abuser; b) the victim; c) the bystanders; d) the ground built by architectural, technological and emotional ambience; e) the attuning flux between abuser(s) and victim(s); f) the tunnel of entrainment that guide violence; g) the opportunities for prevention of violence

Work stage 1. (till 24th February)

Description of an episode of violence to deal with during the course

a) one paragraph on how the student found the episode and why he or she choose it;

b) neutral description of what is relevant on the scene: who are the protagonists  (abuser(s) and victim(s); bystanders; weapons available and social capabilities to use them) and what social ambience support it (state agents, crowd, historical moment); (about 4 pages)?

c) comment on the episode: who do the writer think is right and who is wrong and why (moral issues and pragmatic issues should be presented)? Is there any chance to avoid the violence? How? (about 1 page)

Defining violence as a social phenomena

Social violence is a unsustainable high in energy levels imposed through social relations, which goals/intentions/results are conformity from the victims and to follow the will of violent people.

As such, violence is a power exercise (as there are seduction or arguing to convince) and it can be measured if one can measure energy levels invested on social relations, if one knows what is will and intention, if one can measure conformity to external forces and if one organize statistical series (regarding social subjects) linked to specific kinds of social power interferences on daily lives.

Violence from nature is not included in that definition. Anyway, natural hazards and catastrophes directly or indirectly linked to social violence through unequally distributed risks and resiliencies are dependent of social relations.

Violent people and groups can reinforce their will and intentions after living a high social energy event. Victims do inflect or neglect their will and intentions after the some kind of event, according conformity with percept desires of violent people or group or, same times, turning into survivors, marginal and weird people, looking for liberation and emancipation.

"violence is the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation": that is the World Health Organization definition.

Problems

Why social theory do not discuss what is social violence? Why just only recently we have the opportunity to come about this issue? Is not it central to understand human societies? How can one think about society avoiding thinking about violence?

To answer these questions one needs a) to work with social violence; b) to understand the potential and the limits of social theory sociais (Mouzelis, 1995, Lahire 2003 e 2012); c) to confront sociological definition of violence with other theoretical use of the concept (Acosta, 2013; AAVV. 2013; Torry, 2013); d) to know how main sociologists look at violence (Wieviorka 2005; Collins, 2008).

Students may choose to work in different parts of the problem:

a) To chose one case of violence and study it;

b) To look for epistemological raisons for the absence of violence at social studies at Mouzelis or Lahire criticism on social theory;

c) To chose one of the three social problems addressed by (Acosta, 2013; AAVV. 2013; Torry, 2013 – development; social prevention of violence; citizen income policy proposal) and look the place of violence in the way of the activists;

d) To study what kind of uses Wieviorka or Collins theories of violence are good for and what are their limits.