What Generates, Constitutes and Causes Opportunity-driven Violence? The Case of West Kalimantan

Bibliographic Data

ID6233873
AuthorsTimo Kivimaki (0000-0002-1735-9170, University of Helsinki, corresponding author), Timo A Kivimäki
Year2012
Volume20
Issue3
Pages284-303
Publication date2012-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0218-5377 • E-ISSN: 1750-7812
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02185377.2012.748971
OpenAlexW2057079903
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited25

This article uses the example of West Kalimantan to show some new ways of studying opportunities for violence, contributing especially to the so-called ‘sons of the soil’ conflict debate. By showing that the opportunity structure in West Kalimantan was not primarily material, but social, related to ways to circumvent fear of and norms against violence, this article attempts to update the theoretical premises of the traditional security studies approach to obstacles to conflict and opportunities for violence. The intention is to show how socially constructed realities are relevant in offering and denying opportunities for violence, and how the study of the meanings of actions reveals ways in which opportunities for violent demonstrative argumentation are born in local conflict discourses. The case study shows how powerful narratives enable the justification of violent action and how identities and violent policies mutually constitute each other. This way the empirical evidence calls for understanding the generative and constitutive sources of violence, which are not simply mechanistic causes of conflict

Action (physics · Argumentation theory · Criminology · Demonstrative · Epistemology · Narrative · Political science · Sociology · Asian Studies and History · Peacebuilding and International Security · Political Conflict and Governance · Psychology · Social Psychology

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