Political Violence: Identity and Ideology

This section brings together a multi-disciplinary group of scholars concerned with questions of political violence and its relationship to identity and ideology from both contemporary and historical perspectives. Panels explore the complex interactions between different forms of political violence and the ideological claims and identity constructs that influence the process and impact of violent contention. Ideologies and identities are frequently implicated in violent politics. Shared commitments based on religious, ethnic, local, and national identities, and the particular ideological claims that can both stem from, and inform those identities, are important in understanding when, why and how violence emerges. Work to unpick the complex interactions between identity, ideology and political violence is growing, however these questions warrant further attention. From interpreting how and why violence emerges in situations of inter-group conflict, to understanding the processes implicated in the transmission of identities and ideologies and their impact on political violence, many questions remain. In providing a forum for scholars interested in the relationship between political violence, identity and ideology, this section is concerned with a range of timely and important questions, including: How do ideological claims and identity commitments inform how violence is practiced? Why do ideas that support violence become salient at particular moments in time and space, and how does this inform our understanding of cycles of contention? When do radical ideas facilitate mobilization, and how do they diffuse across contexts? How is the interaction between ideology and identity influenced by ideological leaders and to what effects? What impact do movement allies and adversaries play in shaping the ideological commitments and identity constructs implicated in political violence? In what ways do the identities and ideologies of violent opponents impact state responses? And how do ideological commitments constrain the scope of political violence? In exploring these questions, this section seeks above all to contextualize political violence. To move beyond some of the more straightforward relationships drawn between radical ideas and radical action, and identity and conflict, to position political violence within broader political and social processes, and to explore in greater depth interactions between states, oppositional movements and the wider organisational field of which they are a part.