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HIST352: Spaces of mass violence: modernity, state power, and 'spaces of exception' in the 20th century

Special Subject (60 credits)

Mass violence unfolds in specific dimensions of space-and-time. As a taboo act, it involves a prior transgression of 'normal' values and norms - ethical, cultural, legal. Mass, extreme violence becomes 'normal' in places and moments that have been determined 'from above' or understood from 'ordinary people' as exceptional; a spacetime where normal rules have been suspended and permission to act violently has been either derogated or seized arbitrarily by perpetrators. HIST352 explores how these diverse 'spaces of violence' are produced in the modern world and then catalyse extreme forms of violence. The prison, the detention centre, the torture facilities, the camp (all institutionalised spaces of violence) are compared to incidental spaces (e.g. the space of a single episode of mass violence) and invisible spaces (a secret location or a space of deception) across a wide range of case studies from across the modern world, including contemporary examples.

For further information on HIST352 visit the Lancaster University Online Courses Handbook.

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