Scarcely a generation has escaped experiencing a new wave of violence or the feeling that it's own times were the worst in history. To ask whether a particular era has been more bloodthirsty than another seems both futile and morally dubious. And yet, these lamentations about ever-increasing brutality in the world harbor an observation which should be at the core of our reflections on the role of violence.
Violence permanently changes the state of a society.
It is not over when the weapons fall silent or the butchers have been punished. Violence echoes in the lives of individuals and in the history of societies much longer than we generally care to believe. It is not to be dismissed from the minds and souls, it creates its own institutions or penetrates existing ones and is sometimes deposited in the deepest layers of thinking and feeling, of wishing and acting. From this perspective, the study of history and society must always also entail the study of violence. The fact that this has not been the case so far is hardly a relevant objection, indeed, it must be interpreted as an indication of the difficulties commonly encountered in the search for new methods and approaches.