An Argument Regarding War
SOCI 339 - Sociology : War and Armed Conflict
Sources:
Textbooks
The Sociology of War and Violence by Siniša Malešević, Cambridge University Press, 2010.
War: the Lethal Custom by Gwynne Dyer, Carroll and Graf Publishers, 2004 (revised edition)
War by Sebastian Junger, Harper, 2010.
Either
Construct an argument between two debaters over the origins, causes, and future of war. The first speaker believes that war is inevitable because conflict and violence are essential aspects of human nature, inherited from our simian ancestors. The second speaker has a more benign view of human nature and believes that war arises from institutions that are unjust and unreasonable. Hence, if we eliminate injustice and unreason, we can put an end to war. At the end of this debate, provide your own commentary and conclusions—(fully documented and referenced with citations to the course materials) on the causes and future of war. A possible structure for this assignment could include the following sections: (1) Introduction to the Debate, (2) The Causes of War: Human Nature Versus Social Institutions—Genes Versus Environment; (3) Ideology Versus Facts—The Evidence from Anthropology and History; (4) Conclusions. At the same time, you are at liberty to impose your own structure on this assignment.
Or
Select a current trouble spot in the world—either of a past or present war or armed conflict—and show how this conflict situation may be analyzed using a particular theoretical perspective from either a systemic, societal, or individual level of analysis. In your analysis, try to review the strengths and the limitations of this theory as you apply it in an analysis of your case study.
Or
Select three different real-life examples of war, armed conflict or organized violence which illustrate each of the different types of cruelty described by Randall Collins. Describe how Randall Collins explains the social processes whereby “outsiders” are first dehumanized through language, and then dehumanized in practice. Provide some illustrative examples of how “outsiders” may be rendered as “the enemy” during wartime, and how “outsiders” may also be excluded from interpersonal relations in many other institutional settings—such as the school, the workplace, or even the family. Show how each of your examples meets the criteria established by Randall Collins in his classification of the different types of cruelty.
An Argument Regarding War- First Option
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An Argument Regarding War
People have different arguments over the causes, origins, and future of wars. Some believe that people inherit wars from their ancestors; hence it is unavoidable since violence and conflict are vital features of human nature. On the other hand, some individuals have a gentle perspective of human nature since they believe that wars originate from unreasonable and unjust institutions. Therefore, they claim that eliminating unreasonable and injustice systems can end wars. Nevertheless, other facts regarding war and its causes or origins include existing technology and weapons, frustrations, fear, and propaganda. This paper highlights an argument over these opposing views concerning wars.
Human Nature Causative Factors on War
Some argue that war is part of human nature since people inherited it from prehistoric humans, the simian ancestors. Dyer (2004) highlighted that war originates from pre-human past experiences and is an inescapable and inevitable part of people's genetic heritage. Moreover, people go to war as part of a ritual or revenge against their rivals, just like their ancestors did. They kill their rivals to get revenge or to practice their cultural rituals. Dyer continued to explain that people's line of descent is linked to that of chimpanzees since both have common genetic materials (2004). Chimpanzees and humans share some genetic materials, group-living habits, and physiology that predispose them to intra-species killing. Their common genes make them deliberately raid against their enemies as they compete for scarce resources (Dyer, 2004). Therefore, prehistoric human groups had a cultural tradition of fighting against their neighboring enemies, and their genes continue to exist in people, which make them engage in wars.
Even though opposing nations have no current intentions of going to war, their old structures and habits can influence them to go to war. Officers going to war depend on rules and laws from past human experiences to assess whether violent actions would succeed. In some communities, the members believe that young men inherit the postures, attitudes, and values of the tribal warriors, which explains the origin of wars against their enemies. Dyer (2004) further explained that in totally militarized societies, the transformation of young boys into soldiers starts at puberty, when the society strictly penetrates only military values to the boys. Therefore, some communities have basic training as a formal rite of passage. In such places, men portray bravery in fighting for their countries. Therefore, future wars can occur due to similar brave acts for one's country.
Social Institutions Causative Factors on War
People in institutions inhabit violence and insecurity whereby each person preys on the surrounding people since modern society has corrupted the best aspect of human nature. Malešević (2010) highlighted that people become violent when social ills like class divisions, private property, and institutionalized greed influence them since they are naturally cooperative, reasoned, peaceful, and compassionate creatures. People slaughter and fight for many reasons: profit, conform, impress, avoid shame, please, and hide fear. Therefore, such unreasonable and unjust social ties and motives make people murderers (Malešević, 2010). Malešević argued that the ideologization process and social organizations often ...