From offline to online violence: new challenges for the contemporary society

ABSTRACT

So far, the focus on violence has been it as a concept and its evolution within contemporary societies. For instance, several studies consider violence to be influenced by singular cultural issues and perceptions, with the primary point being the presence of an authoritative presence capable of acting violently. Others instead focus on the degrees and typologies of violence and question the role of modernity in the execution of acts of violence by individuals, who are often both victims and perpetrators. In this article, we draw upon a theoretical reflection concerning the role of violence as a sociological concept. We highlight the transformations it has undergone considering the technological developments and its presence in online spaces. The aim is to stress the mutual shaping relationship between the online and offline realms regarding violence against women (although the subject could also involve other communities like the LGBTQI+, migrants, people with disabilities, etc.). Via our theoretical point of reference and examples, we highlight how the perception of the seriousness of violence is nuanced depending on the environment in which it occurs. Similarly, we argue that its acceptability or condemnation becomes the result of culturally metabolised principles and rules that characterise certain societies.

KEYWORDS:

• Violence
• mutual shaping
• online violence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We believe that the term "gender-based violence" is a good approach to describe the social issue under investigation. However, it also relates to violence perpetrated against other members of society, not only women, that is not particularly investigated in this study but – nonetheless- exists worldwide.

2 The Istanbul Convention is the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. It was approved in 2011. This human rights treaty has the aim of preventing of gender-violence, protecting victims, and stopping the impunity of perpetrators.

3 The term incel is a combination of the words involuntary and celibate. It refers to those who view themselves as unsuccessful in obtaining sex and romantic relationships, with those they desire.

4 Men’s rights groups, holding far-right, misogynist, anti-feminist, and sexist views that argue that the specific government services adversely impact, or in some cases structurally discriminate against, men and boys. They mobilise primarily around issues pertaining to the interests of fathers and spouses (divorce laws, alimony, child custody, violence).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stellamarina Donato

Stellamarina Donato is a postdoctoral researcher in social sciences at LUMSA University of Rome, Italy. Her research interests encompass EU-MENA policies with a focus on migration and populism, and gender and policies with a focus on women’s rights and gender-based violence against women. On these research topics, she published essays, book chapters and articles in international and national journals, such as Italian Sociological Review and Cultura Latinoamericana. She is MC Member (Italy) and co-gender advisor to COST Action CA19112 Women on the Move (WEMov).

Hande Eslen-Ziya

Hande Eslen-Ziya, Professor of Sociology at the University of Stavanger and director of the Populism, Anti-Gender and Democracy Research Group at the same institution. She has an established interest in gender and social inequalities, transnational organisations and social activism. She recently co-edited Populism and Science in Europe (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) which provides a systematic and comparative analysis of the intersections of populism and science in Europe, from the perspective of political sociology.

Emiliana Mangone

Emiliana Mangone is Associate Professor of Sociology of Culture and Communication at the Department of Political and Communication Sciences, University of Salerno, Italy. She is a Director of the Narratives and Social Changes-International Research Group (2020–2026) Her research interests include cultural and institutional systems, knowledge as key elements to the human action, migration studies, and as well as the study of the thought of Pitirim A. Sorokin.