Violence and its interpretations

Towards a Semiotic Theory of State Power

Bibliographic Data

ID7095299
AuthorsAbigail Cary Moore (0000-0003-1171-9822, University of Virginia, corresponding author), Isaac Ariail Reed (0000-0002-6318-763X, University of Virginia)
Year2019
Volume12
Issue2
Pages177-199
Publication date2019-05-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Political Power (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2158-379X • E-ISSN: 2158-3803
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/2158379x.2019.1618487
OpenAlexW2951660426
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited46

We propose a semiotic theory of the state via an account of deadly physical violence and its variable interpretation. A sociological examination of the racialized investigatory traffic stop in the United States provides the location for a theorization that departs from the Althusserian account of state and subject, and from 'realist' and 'cultural' theories of state power. We offer a different account of the relationship of state power to violence, one focused on the relationship between action and its future interpretation as a primary location of state power, which is conceptualized as a pantemporal process of violence and its interpretation

Action (physics · Criminology · Epistemology · Interpretation (philosophy · Linguistics · Power (physics · Semiotics · Sociology · State (computer science · Computer Science · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Marxism and Critical Theory · Philosophy · Sociology and Norbert Elias

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