1. L6 Sociology and contemporary societies Prof. Consuelo Corradi
Violence

2. An attack at Westminster Parliament
London, March 22, 2017

3. Sources Major newspapers’ websites, visited March 25 2017
C. Corradi, “Conflict, Violence and Civil Society. An Attempt at Understanding Violence in Modernity”, in P. Baert, S. Koniordos, G. Procacci, and C. Ruzza (eds.) Conflict, Citizenship and Civil Society, London, Routledge, 2010, pp
Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology

5. Facts The attack unfolded around 2:40 pm
Driving a large SUV, the assailant slammed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge near Parliament, killing three people and injuring many others, before crashing into a railing. People killed or wounded were from France, Romania, South Korea and the USA
After the crash, the driver left the vehicle and approached Parliament, where he stabbed an armed police officer to death and was fatally shot by the police
The dead officer was identified as Keith Palmer, 48, a member of the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command with 15 years of experience.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack through one of its media channels
It is unclear what ties the man had with this group, if any
On March 22, one year before, there was a major suicide bombing in Brussels airport, killing 32 people.

7. Assailant
Khalid Masood, 52. British born, British citizen. Married with children, was living near Birmingham
Neighbors say “he was a normal family man. Used to take the child to school in the morning and take care of his garden”. He was an observant Muslim wearing a beard, a skullcap and a robe
Police says there is no clear evidence of intent, or plot
Did he act on his own, following terrorist propaganda? Or did others support or direct him?

8. Masood was born Adrian Elms. His mother was 17 when he was born
Masood was born Adrian Elms. His mother was 17 when he was born. When Adrian was 2, she married Philip Ajao, and Adrian used the last name of his step-father until he converted to Islam
He grew up in Kent and went to school there. One of his teammate picture him as “bright, popular and sporty, one of the best football players in the school”
After school his life appeared to go off the rail. He was first convicted as an 18-year-old for criminal damage. Then again for assault, weapons possesion and violations of public order
It is believed he radicalized during his second stint in prison, around 2004 in Norfolk. Between 2005 and he visited Saudi Arabia and the Mecca
Theresa May declared that the British intelligence had investigated him but “he was a peripheral figure” in terrorism.

10. There have been many previous cases of UK citizens being involved with the Islamic State
Hundreds of Britons have traveled to Iraq and Syria to fight with the group
Mohammed Emwazi, also called as Jihadi John, appeared in numerous execution videos
On March 23, in Antwerp (belgium) a man tried to drive over pedestrians on a crowded shopping street. The man was identified as Mohamed, a 39-year-old French resident of North African ancestry.

11. “Let’s carry on with our normal business”

12. Violence

13. Definition 1 2 3 4 5 Violence is connected to modernity
We need a sociology of violence, as a social force: as different from, and conflated with power 3
Violence is not a high degree of conflict 4
The political and cultural dimensions of violence give it power and meaning 5
We need to assess modernity, and recognize horror when it happens

14. Conflict Alessandro Pizzorno and the typology of conflict:
Conflict of interests
Conflict of recognition
Conflict of ideologies

15. For a sociology of violence
Violence as tool
Violence as social force: struggle for resources of identity in a situation in which differences are uncertain.
The illusion of producing identities defined once and for all, and not part of a pluralistic universe
It is the interplay between the two that can explain violence in modernity

16. Violence in modernity

17. Typical of modernity 1/3 A political action conflated with power
A mixture of rational and emotional choice. Shame, pride, rage, humiliation (and not only vested interests) set off and feed violence
Boosting of individualistic dimensions and, at the same time, strong link with community: not narcissistic but “extended self”

18. Typical of modernity 2/3
Social identities of victim and offender are at work in violence
Modernistic violence is cast in culture
Offenders or victims as “strangers”
A narrowing of social distance between groups (cultural globalization)

19. Typical of modernity 3/3 Use of media, violence as a show
The violent subject

20. Over-emphasized in modernity
The body
Violence progresses through emotional spread