Mediation Of Violence Research Articles

The Shifting Baselines of the British Hare Goddess

AbstractThe rise of social zooarchaeology and the so-called ‘animal turn’ in the humanities both reflect a growing interest in the interactions of humans and non-human animals. This comparative archaeological study contributes to this interdisciplinary field by investigating the ways in which successive human cultures employed religion to conceptualise and interact with their ecological context across the longue durée. Specifically, we investigate how the Iron Age, Romano-British, early medieval English, medieval Welsh, and Information Age populations of Great Britain constructed and employed supranatural female figures – Andraste, Diana, Ēostre, St. Melangell, and the modern construct ‘Easter’ – with a common zoomorphic link: the hare. Applying theoretical concepts drawn from conservation ecology (‘shifting baselines’) and the study of religion (‘semantic centres’) to a combination of (zoo)archaeological and textual evidence, we argue that four distinct ‘hare goddesses’ were used to express their congregations’ concerns regarding the mediation of violence between the human in-group and other parties (human or animal) across two millennia.

Multiple Otherness: Identity Politics in the Taiping Civil War

Abstract During and after the Taiping Civil War (1851–64), the notion of the Other was implicated in the provocation and mediation of violence and, as a result, acquired a multitude of new meanings and manifestations. Focusing on the discourse surrounding the Taiping War, this article explores the multiple political, moral, and cultural implications embedded in the idea of otherness. Unpacking the propaganda discourse of both the Taiping rebels and the Qing government, the author investigates the making of the political enemy by opposing regimes. In particular, the construction of a religious and political enemy is vital to Taiping identity formation. The author focuses on marginal figures in historical and fictional accounts who traverse political boundaries and constitute a third category beyond demarcations of “us” and Other in Taiping propaganda and its Qing counterpart. In short stories, however, these figures are subject to moral judgment and thus subsumed under another form of normative narrative involving otherness. Only in the realm of fantasy and imagination are political and moral efforts to construct and modulate otherness finally called into question. This article explores the acute malleability of the Other during the violent and chaotic Taiping Civil War and in its aftermath.

The Salience Network structures as a mediator of violence and perceptions of hostility

The Salience Network structures as a mediator of violence and perceptions of hostility

Food-insecure pregnant women in South Africa: a cross-sectional exploration of maternal depression as a mediator of violence and trauma risk factors

ObjectivesBetter understanding of psychosocial risk factors for food insecurity (FI) during pregnancy and how they interact is crucial, given long-term health implications for maternal and child health. We investigated the...

Confluences: of war porn and nationalism, at the limits of memory

ABSTRACTThis short article explores the suggestive and complicated genre of ‘war porn’ as first described by Jean Baudrillard in his now-famous essay from Libération. I attempt to situate the genre within the context of South Asia, and specifically of India, to undergird a conversation regarding nationalism and the ways by which violence – its production, mediation, circulation, and subsequent consumption – becomes promulgated, particularly when we consider the violation of others. How does understanding its mediation become central to an understanding of how this violence becomes enacted and how does a discussion about ‘war porn’ facilitate a better comprehension of such conceptual frameworks as nationalism, religious fundamentalism, historical memory, and the problematic construction of the figure of the other – these are some of the queries that will be examined here. Furthermore, I also explore how the virtual mediation of violence participates in the ongoing perpetuation of the violation of others as much as the very real acts of violence themselves.

The narrative’s ‘general truth’: Authenticity and the mediation of violence in Barbary captivity narratives

Abstract With the end of the American Revolution and as British treaties no longer sheltered American vessels in the Mediterranean, Barbary pirates captured a series of US ships and individuals, exacting ransom and tributes for captives. These captures also initiated a proliferation of narratives regarding the north African region that were produced and reproduced as being ‘authentic’, without necessarily adhering to any actual events or lived experiences. Drawing from both actual as well as fictional accounts of the period, this article explores how images of violent encounters with the Muslim Orient were produced, borrowed and reconstructed within the American literary and national landscape. In this respect, this article seeks to address the artificiality of these narratives, where the production of a ‘general truth’ (as the editors of The Narrative of Robert Adams defined it), is more essential than the account’s adherence to factuality. At the same time, this article explores the manner with which representations of violence by ‘merciless Barbarians’, although referring to acts of immediate violence and calling for an immediate response, were also heavily mediated both in their production and consumption, contributing in this manner to the ideological processes of constructing new ‘imagined communities’ in the American post-revolutionary nation.

A Psychosocial Resource Impairment Model Explaining Partner Violence and Distress: Moderating Role of Income

This study examines the role of income in a psychosocial resource impairment model that explains partner violence and distress. Using data from a nationally representative sample, we test whether psychosocial resources of social support and self-esteem operate differently in four income groups (poor, "working"-poor, middle and upper-income). Structural equation modeling shows that among women considered working-poor, low self-esteem is relevant for the process through which violence becomes linked to distress. Women of upper-income appear distinct with negative interactions serving as sole mediator of violence and distress. Other findings indicate impaired support may mediate the violence and distress relation for women, regardless of income. Overall, income partially moderates the impact of partner violence on distress, suggesting social contexts should be considered when examining the effects of violence.