Event: Public Lecture: Violence and Society
Date: 31 October 2023
Time: 17:30-19.30
Venue: GW 256
Speaker: Prof. Sylvia Walby
This event is being organised by the Department of Gender & Sexualities at the Faculty for Social Wellbeing.
If you are interested in attending this Public Lecture, please fill the online Registration form.
If you are interested in attending this Public Lecture, please fill the online Registration form.
Abstract
Violence matters in the world, but has social science and social theory got it right? Violence tends to be underestimated in social theory and in data, despite its importance in society. Violence against women and against minorities are especially underestimated in data and marginalised in theory. Violence is theoretically marginalised in mainstream social science, while developing vigorously in its margins. ‘Mainstream’ theory tends to focus on political economy or culture as the drivers of societal change, while specific epistemic communities engaged with violence against identity groups have tended to develop in separate spaces, journals, and conferences. In methodology, measurement practices tend to underestimate violence against women and minorities. Measurement frameworks make assumptions that reduce estimates of the repetition of violence against women and minorities. The example of reducing the gender bias in estimates of domestic violence in crime surveys is presented. The UN Sustainable Development Goals are influential in setting global priorities for action. How can violence against women be better represented in this influential data platform? The example of the definition of femicide is explored. Is current policy development carceral? There are many ways to develop policy to prevent violence and coercion, that do not use criminal law; instead using other forms of law and regulation to address its root causes. Policy on trafficking/modern slavery is used as an example. The lecture argues for rethinking how violence is addressed in sociology, in criminology, and in social science. It mainstreams the analysis of violence, addressing issues in theory, methodology, measurement, and policy.
Speaker Bio
Sylvia Walby is a Professor in the School of Law and Social Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, where she holds the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Anneliese Maier Research Award. She is a Fellow of the British Academy, and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. She is founding Co-President of the International Sociological Association’s Thematic Group on Violence and Society. Sylvia was Chair of the Sociology sub-panel for REF2021, held the UNESCO Chair in Gender Research at Lancaster University, and was the founding President of the European Sociological Association. Books include The Concept and Measurement of Violence against Women and Men (Bristol 2017), Crisis (Polity 2015), Stopping Rape (Policy Press 2015), and Globalization and Inequalities: Complexity and Contested Modernities (Sage 2009). Her next book is Trafficking Chains: Modern Slavery in Society (Bristol 2024).