violence

Gender Equality and Terrorism

The question of why people become terrorists is naturally much older than the present discussion. While the trendy (and simplistic) explanations right now are based upon ethnic and religious boundaries we easily forget our all too close past. Terror groups over the last 50 years have not necessarily followed ethnic or religious boundaries. European terrorism between 1960-1990, for example, has plenty of examples of terrorists attacking their ethnic, social and religious peers.

For example: Brigate Rosse (Italien militant leftists), Black Star (Greek anti-Imperialist, anti-capitalist), Rote Armee Fraktion (German Baader-Meinhof Group), Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (Basque Homeland and Freedom), Real (or True) IRA (Irish Republican Army) and First of October Antifascist Resistance Group (Spain)

So if we can cross of ethnic and religious tensions as to the cause of terrorism â?? what else is there? In recent research collaboration between University College London and Zhejiang Normal University in China arrived at one of the root causes is that there are too many men in society. These men are unlikely to be able to have (much/any?) sex and almost no chance of having families of their own. From the UCL media press release (28 August 2006):

Cultures that favour male babies have bred a surplus of men who will struggle to find sexual partners and could find themselves marginalised in society, warns a new paper co-authored by a UCL (University College London) researcher. As more men discover their lack of marriage prospects, this could lead to antisocial behaviour, violence and possibly more opportunities for organised crime and terrorism, threatening the stability and security of many societies.

There you have it. Research claims that lack of sex makes men into terroristsâ?¦ The solution is naturally to be found in the words of the great John Lennon & McCartney: All you need is love, love, love is all you need.

What a load of…

Posted on by mklang

Bush: Sexism, Bad Manners & Power

Incredible! The world seems to be in the process of erupting into more and more violence. Afghanistan is ongoing but rarely reported, Gaza has fallen in the shadow of Lebanon. Iraq shows no sign of stabilising. Not to mention the hotspots in the rest of the world.

So when the world leaders meet in the G8 conference in St Petersburg one expects that the gravity of world affairs will ensure that the world leaders would act with an enhanced level of decorum that maybe could reflect the situation.

What does Bush do? Itâ??s unbelievable!!!

The actions of little George are totally unacceptable even if it was in the privacy of his own office and the victim was the office temp. But Angela Merkel is not the office temp but she is the German Chancellor. The unwelcome actions of George Bush go beyond ugly sexism and condescending male-female relations. The actions are an inexcusable insult on Germany. Actually it could be interpreted as the patronising US attitude towards the rest of the world.

More on this Unfogged, Bild.t, The News Blog, Talking Points Memo.

(via Bitch PhD)

Posted on by mklang

Island Summer

Its time for the annual summer move – We have rented a small cottage on the local island of Asperö (population 450 people) where we shall be for the next four weeks. The island is small (only about 1 square kilometre) but still manages to have a varied nature â?? including a nature trail through a leafy area, lots of swimming places and a small sweet-water lake.

Asperö (the scale is 500m)

The best thing about the island is that there are no cars only mopeds built for transport rather than speed.


the moped

this type of moped is called â??Flakmoppeâ?? in Swedish which literally translated means loading platform moped â?? sounds much better in Swedish. As you can imagine the pace is much more relaxed on the island. So I am looking forward to a long relaxing summer on the islandâ?¦ even if I do have some short trips (Barcelona & Amsterdam) and some writing (Military Violence, Free Software) planned the main idea is to have a relaxing holiday-time.

Posted on by mklang

Does Bodström dream of high-tech hammers?

The Swedish Minister of Justice Thomas Bodström can without a doubt be placed among the European Ministerâ??s most hostile to civil liberties (older posts about this here & here & here). Besides blogging about it (along with many others) Henrik Sandklef and I wrote a debate article concerning this mans naïve faith in technological solutions to crime. It was published in the newspaper (in Swedish) and the Minister replied â?? well sort ofâ?¦he never actually met our arguments on civil rights violations, but claimed that the police needed tools to do their job (in Swedish).

Yesterday the Chairman of the Swedish Police Union, Björn Ericson, wrote in a debate article (in Swedish) that despite the Ministerâ??s claims that the police force has increased by 1500 policemen the actual numbers show that the number of policemen have decreased by almost 700 since 1997. Ericson wonders whether the 1500 policemen are all working deep undercover since nobody besides the Minister seems to know where they are.

Besides the politics (it is, after all, an election year), Ericson brings up a vital point in his article. Who will watch the tapes, analyse the data and read the log files? Much of the current wisdom concerning police enforcement deals with the importance of visibility. Policemen on the streets. It is not only important that the police patrol but also that they be seen to be patrolling.

Technology costs. The cost of building and maintaining a high-tech police force will create higher costs for the police. This will mean that they will have to make budget choices. Either be visible or spend money on technology. Our Minister has shown his inclination lies in the dream of a technological future â?? but what is missing in this dream?

Implementing the high-tech surveillance society will entail making choices. Simple choices with far reaching effects. The Bodström vision entails moving the police from all types of prevention and focus them on the cure. In the long run prevention is more cost efficient than cure. All the high-tech in the world cannot, will not, prevent crime. The only aspect of use is that high-tech may provide proof in the ensuing court case. And this can only be achieved through the trampling of civil liberties and therefore must only be used as little as possible.

The choices the police are being forced to make will therefore change their purpose. They will not be about the prevention of crime but rather the police will become the servants of the courts, the errand boys of the prosecutor. Despite their handcuffs, handguns and truncheons their primary work will be the collection of data for analysis. This is not unworthy work but it does not prevent the bulk of most crimes.

Technology such as that of bugging (phones and computers), DNA databases and surveillance cameras are all tools. Tools work well to resolve certain problems. With the right tools people became efficient â?? a large part of human development can be studied in the development of certain tools (fire, bronze axes, steam engines, silicon chipsâ?¦) but with the wrong tools the work becomes difficult, if not impossible. Of course you can bang in a nail with a screwdriver â?? but at a cost.

Most violent crimes (Terrorism, Saturday-night brawling, violence and abuse at home) will not be prevented by buying technology. The 9/11 terrorists used their own names â?? it would not have mattered to them if they had been asked to donate DNA. Putting more, and better trained, police on the streets â?? does have an effect on crime.

More patrolling policemen would not have prevented 9/11 â?? there is no way to prevent the determined. More patrolling police will not prevent abuse in homes. This takes an even more costly prevention â?? education and social welfare. But it is a better preventative cure for most other crimes. In addition to this it does not violate the civil rights of law-abiding people in the hope of catching the criminal.

There is a saying: When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Thomas Bodström is busying buying the dream of the big high-tech hammer and no matter how many different problems people attempt to explain to him with this approach all he can see is nails â?? and he cannot wait to pound us down.

Posted on by mklang

Politics in Games

Violence and ideologies in games have long been under discussion. On the one side computer game advocates argue that computer games are not the cause of violence while others claim that computer games are harmful. The truth is never as simple as either side would like to claim.

Americas Army is the official US army game and was developed by the US army (beginning in 1999) the goal is to allow players to develop into specialist â??Green Beretâ?? soldiers. The website contains information about US army recruitment centres.

Afkar Media is producing â??al-Qurayshâ??, a real time strategy game that tells the story of the first 100 years of Islam from the viewpoint of four different nations – Bedouins, Arabs, Persians, and Romans. The planned release date is September. Afkar Media hopes the game will help to reverse negative connotations of Islam in the west and evoke new pride among young Muslims. (Christian Science Monitor).

Last year Afkar Media launched the game Under Seige, which was inspired by actual Hizbollah missions. An earlier game on the same theme is Special Force. They write on their website:

â??The game â??Special Forceâ?? is based upon reality, meaning that the game is based on events that took place in a land called Lebanon. Lebanon was invaded by â??Israelâ?? in 1978 & 1982, and was forced to withdrawâ?¦we decided to produce a game that will be educational for our future generations and for all freedom lovers of this worldâ?¦â??

Games such as these are criticised for simply reversing stereotypes while their supporters claim to redress the balance in a genre dominated by western forces defeating Arabs.

Does Civilisation create a â??beat-them-upâ?? â??winner-take-allâ?? view of history? Do Counterstrike and Vice City lead to conflict? And then what do the Sims tell us about ourselves and which values do they re-inforce?

It is interesting to note that all sides seem to argue that â??the otherâ?? is unfairly portraying them as the evil enemy. The question of political propaganda in games is a large unexplored area. Taylorâ??s â??Munitions of the Mindâ?? is an excellent starting point for those wishing to better understand the history and impact of propaganda from a non-game perspective.

Posted on by mklang

Breeding Brutality

What happens when you train young people to kill and then pump them full of rhetoric and send them off to occupy a foreign country? The answer is tragedies like Haditha.

The strange thing is that there have not been many more tragedies and that the people who send their armies to war seem to be â??shockedâ?? and â??surprisedâ?? by these events. What were they expecting?

In the wake of the massacre at Haditha where US marines have allegedly killed 24 innocent civilians the discussions about battlefield and occupation conduct has taken off. On the one hand there have been â??damage controlâ?? actions such as the news that following Haditha servicemen are to be given ethics training, or as it was termed in a military statement â??core warrior valuesâ?? (BBC Online 1 June).

On the other hand there is sad news in relation to how abuses by servicemen are being treated. In the UK the Court Marshal cases lead to acquittals: â??The acquittals call into question the future of Britainâ??s court martial system for dealing with serviceman accused of committing abuses while on duty.â?? (The Times June 7)

None of this should be surprising â?? its just tragic. Monbiot writes about the brutalising effect of occupations and closes his article with the words:

Why should we be surprised by these events? This is what happens when one country occupies another. When troops are far from home, exercising power over people they donâ??t understand, knowing that the population harbours those who would kill them if they could, their anger and fear and frustration turns into a hatred of all â??micksâ?? or â??gooksâ?? or â??hajjisâ??. Occupations brutalise both the occupiers and the occupied. It is our refusal to learn that lesson which allows new colonial adventures to take place. (Originally published in The Guardian 6 June 2006).

Why is this interesting for me? Well in part becuase the horrors of war have a tendency to be forgotten since they are uncomfortable and a colleague of mine has asked me to participate in an exciting project on the legal use of lethal force in the military. This will be as part of a larger project on Military Violence and Killing. My part is to look at the Swedish militaries legal framework for use of lethal force and then, if time permits, attempt to ascertain whether this legal framework is reflected in the training and understanding of the men and women who will be forced into situations where lethal violence may occur.

This is particularly interesting since the Swedish military is gradually moving towards a position of more active participation in overseas peacekeeping/peacemaking action.

Posted on by mklang

Ten Important Stories

Concerned that some issues continue not to receive sustained media attention or slip off the radar screen, the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) has unveiled a new list of “Ten Stories the World Should Hear More About.”

2006 is the third year that the “top” ten unreported stories have been presented. If you are like me then you have probably never heard of this list or many of the stories. Read them and help publish them. So how can this happen? Well if the mainstream media doesn’t cover it then it should be blogged…

Liberia: Development challenges top agenda as the nation recovers from years of civil strife

Lost in migration: Asylum seekers face challenges amid efforts to stem flows of illegal migrants

DR of Congo: As the country moves boldly towards historic vote, humanitarian concerns continue to demand attention

Nepal’s hidden tragedy: Children caught in the conflict

Somalia: Security vacuum compounding effects of drought

Protracted refugee situations: Millions caught in limbo, with no solutions in sight

South Asian earthquake: Relief effort saves lives, stems losses, but reconstruction tasks loom large

Behind bars, beyond justice: An untold story of children in conflict with the law

From water wars to bridges of cooperation: Exploring the peace-building potential of a shared resource

Côte d’Ivoire: A strike away from igniting violence amidst a faltering peace process

Posted on by mklang

People & technology

The concept of technological determinism can be explained with the quote from Homer (unconfirmed) â??The blade itself incites to violenceâ??. When I try to explain technological determinism to my students I usually ask them to think about their iPods. What are the people who build and sell a device which fits 10 000 songs saying about intellectual property?

Another cool application of technology is flickr.com. I like the work of the graffiti artist Banksy so here are a few images taken from the Banksy pool.
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wyn gilley

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Marble Arch. Nolifebeforecoffee.
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Near Drayton Park Train Station, N7 London. atomic shed.

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Hocker Street, Shoreditch. distantbombs.
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Corner of Noel Street and Poland Street, London, 2001. Simon Crubellier.

The point (not of Banksy but of technology application) is that in a cool interconnected way I can follow Banksyâ??s work. Since he is a graffiti artist it is not going to be displayed for too long. Flickr provides both the storage medium but also a searchable area where interests can gather. Not only can I find images from all over the world I can also follow them by theme (e.g. Banksy) and see the work of different photographers. The development of the social organisation of photography via sites like this is very cool.

The point is not simply mindless technology optimism but rather that given a technological base people will find social uses for it. It is not about developing a business model but rather that by applying technology in an unorthodox way people will develop and organise their interactions with the help of technology. But we still need to develop the technology and make it more available, cheaper and free to manipulate.

Part of the problem is (naturally) that there is not enough political will to fulfill this vision. As soon as we approach anything like this someone starts talking about the need to ensure that business can profit from technology. Profiting from technology is ok – but not if it stops the development of a better socio-technical organisation. The development of a new socio-technical organisation began the dissemination of the web but has faltered with the demands of business to make profit and the inevitable crash of a market based upon words & greed…

Posted on by mklang

So where the bloody hell are you?

In an attempt to grab attention the Australian Tourism has created a typical beautiful tourist add but with a twist. The tagline at the end is â??So where the bloody hell are you?â?? (referring to the tourists I guess!) The original ad can be seen here or here.

The tagline has sparked some debate. In Japan it simply does not work so it was changed to the more polite â??So why donâ??t you come?â?? (The Age). The television ad was banned in the UK for the use of â??bloodyâ??, in Canada for the line â??weâ??ve bought you a beerâ?? (Wikipedia).

The media company (Downwind Media) made a parody of the film which has caused lawyers for Tourism Australia (TA) to threatened legal action over the use of the music used in the parody (the music is similar but tune and tempo are different), TA claim that the offending tune still infringed on their copyright regardless of the musical differences. TA demanded the parody be removed from Downwind Media’s website.

See the spoof on You Tube.

The parody of the tourist advert is a legitimate form of cultural remix. It is particularly relevant since the ad sells Australian cultural icons/stereotypes. Therefore there is a great deal of legitimacy in providing alternative images of that which is sold. As in many cases such as these we can see that the supression has only increased the longevity of the spoof.

The main idea of the spoof is to juxtapose the “traditional” tourist images of tourism & Australia (e.g. outback, hospitality, kangaroos, pubs, watersports, nightlife, aborigines and beaches)

with the more negative images of Australia: violence, racism, drugs, immigration detention centers, dingos, human rights violations.

Posted on by mklang

22 days

Another 501 words added to the list. Making the total 87 565 spread over 178 pages. Today the work was on the Foucault & the Panopticon (Foucault Power/Knowledge 1980):

There is no need for arms, physical violence, material constraints. Just a gaze. An inspecting gaze, a gaze which each individual under its weight will end up by interiorising to the point that he is his own overseer, each individual thus exercising this surveillance over, and against himself. A superb formula: power exercised continuously and for what turns out to be a minimal cost.

The reading tip of the day is “Panoptic Power and the Pathologisation of Vision” by Majid Yar.

Posted on by mklang