The Means of Destruction

Chapter Five disaggregates political violence not by cause or group, but by basic technique. It identifies the key means that underpin violent repertoires: and attempt to trace their evolution in conjunction with some reference to other major social and technological changes. At heart, this is a structural approach that leans towards identifying emerging opportunities for violence. Yet, paradoxically, such a structuralist approach can also help to highlight the key roles of agency and contingency. Again and again, new and shocking trends in political violence turn out to be exploiting ideas that are not fundamentally new, though they may indeed be adapted or transformed in importantly novel ways. Likewise, violent techniques may be practised in a very limited way—and then very suddenly achieve widespread imitation. In short, contagion patterns can be very dramatic.