The necessities of violence

Abstract

The paper notes an increasing concern with organisational violence, but also that much of the work considers violence to be a problem requiring functionally effective solutions. We argue for a more radical view of violence, which sees it as inherent to all manner of organising processes, including writing, editing and publishing. The paper considers violence in the establishment and maintenance of order, as constituted in acts of organising, inherent to Self‐Other relationships, in the politics and dynamics of difference, and in issues of identity formation.

Keywords:

• Violence
• Subjectivity and identity
• Knowledge‐power relations
• Exclusion
• Differentiation
• Transgression