5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

Political economy has been accused of marginalising violence in its theory of society. Is this true? Is it appropriate? What should the place of violence be within a political economy theory of society? Is violence a specific form of power, irreducible to others, or is it derivative from political economy? Does political economy overstate the significance of class as compared with colonial and gendered inequalities because it does not address violence adequately? How does political economy address violence in theory and practice?

Violence holds both empirical significance and serves as a central theoretical aspect of political economy. Exploring the broader macro-level role that violence plays in society expands current socio-economic theories. Simultaneously, it enables a detailed investigation into the extent to which violence shapes the economy, polity, and civil society. Reapproaching violence as a foundational element of political economy offers a different perspective on the world and its problems, allowing for a detailed analysis of broader social contexts to address social issues.

Our proposed session will explore the following questions:

• How does violence intersect with economy, politics, civil society and culture?
• In what ways does violence influence the formation of states, institutions, organisations, and policies?
• Is violence solely a tool for sustaining inequality and oppression, or does it actively shape capitalist and patriarchal systems and racist regimes?
• To what extent and how does violence diversity the trajectories of socio-economic transformation?
• Under certain circumstances, could violence emerge as an effective strategy against inequality and oppression?