How do we decide when violence in pursuit of emancipation is legitimate and what form - if any - should it take? Nick Hewlett places the goal of a wholly peaceful society centre-stage to give us a new understanding of violence in the pursuit of peace.

How do we decide when violence in pursuit of emancipation is legitimate and what form - if any - should it take? We live in an age seemingly defined by violence: daily we hear about war, state repression, violent uprising, suicide bombing, gang warfare, slavery, domestic abuse and many other forms of suffering imposed by human beings on other human beings. Is it realistic to think of a future that is egalitarian, properly democratic, just, peaceful and free from violence? If so, can we justify the paradox of violence in pursuit of a peaceful future? In this rich, wide-ranging and highly-original book, Nick Hewlett brings together: the modern history of capitalist violence and communist violence; political thought regarding insurgent violence; a passionate defence of the idea of peace and non-violence; and the political economy of contemporary capitalism. He explores topics ranging from the prospects for peace and non-violence to Fidel Castro's ethics of guerrilla warfare, from the brutality of US foreign policy and the violence of historical communism to the meaning of terrorism today. Strongly argued and supported by a wealth of facts, this book is suffused with a profound belief in the need to go beyond the inequalities and injustices of the current age and towards societies characterised by equality, deep democracy and peace. Nick Hewlett is Professor of French Studies at the University of Warwick. Cover image: Painting depicting the rebellion of the townspeople during the Spanish Civil War, c. 1936-1939, painted from memory by an unknown Moroccan © Universal History Archive/Getty Images Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN (cover): 978-1-4744-1060-1 ISBN (PPC): 978-1-4744-1059-5 Barcode