Shifting Forms of Political Violence Across Socio-Spatial Configurations
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21287461 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lorenzo Bosi (0000-0003-2815-7571, Scuola Normale Superiore, corresponding author), Stefan Malthaner (0009-0008-7000-4353, Akademie der Polizei Hamburg) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-07-04 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Behavioral Scientist (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-7642 • E-ISSN: 1552-3381 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00027642261461978 |
| OpenAlex | W7167363852 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 21 |
Drawing on Norbert Elias’ concept of “figuration,” this article argues against treating armed groups as static, autonomous units (reification) and instead advocates for analyzing forms of political violence as shifting socio-spatial configurations. By analyzing political violence as a dynamic web of interdependencies between actors and their environments, this perspective offers three key advantages: it establishes a morphology based on recurring relational patterns, captures the fluid, processual nature of political violence, and bridges separate research fields. Two empirical episodes are used to illustrate how socio-spatial relations shift and evolve–and contribute to the transformation of the configuration of political violence over time and across space: the Provisional IRA (Irish Republican Army) in Northern Ireland, between 1969 and 1977, and al-Jamaa al-Islamiyya in Egypt, between 1980 and 1998
Interdependence · Key (lock) · Perspective (graphical) · Poison control · Political violence · Politics · Global Security and Public Health · Political Conflict and Governance · Sociology and Norbert Elias
Contentious Performances
Dynamics of Contention
The New Politics of Sinn Féin
Ballymurphy and the Irish War
Guerrillas and Revolution in Latin America
Networks of Rebellion
The Logic of Violence in Civil War
Rebelocracy
The Politics of Collective Violence
Social Network Analysis in the Study of Terrorism and Insurgency
Bounded by Violence
Sponsoring Violence
Islamism in Southern Egypt
Safe Territories and Violent Political Organizations
What Should We Mean by “Pattern of Political Violence”? Repertoire, Targeting, Frequency, and Technique
Militant and Rebel Organization(s)
Clandestinity and insurgent consolidation
Cities and the Unevenness of Social Movement Space
Collective Threat Framing and Mobilization in Civil War
Formations of Violence
Manifesto for a Relational Sociology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |