Expert Answers » Social Science
Social Science Glossary Definition (English)
War, Sociology of Defined
The following is in context to Social Science, because it's common for a single word to have multiple meanings you will find additional research links near the bottom of the page.
"War is the organizes use of force against another people or nation. There have been several varieties of such warfare in human history:
1) Predatory warfare in which one tribe or band attacks another in order to steal herds, tools, weapons or take slave as in the Viking raids along England and France.
2) Wars for colonial empire in which one people invades and imposes an exploitive system on a people; the Persian empire, the Roman Empire, the Incan Empire and the British Empire are examples. Rule is indirect through governors.
3) Wars of feudal conquest in which one petty noble conquers and rules several other 'kingdoms' in an area. Charlemagne consolidated the petty states of France into empire in the 11th century. Rule is direct through succession by birth.
4) Wars of bourgeois revolution in which the middle classes overthrow the nobility and take state power as in England, France, the Americas and elsewhere.
5) Wars of Capitalist Expansion. World Wars I & 11 can be understood as wars between capitalist states as each tried to solve its own problems of surplus population and crises at the expense of other states.
6) Wars of socialist liberation in which there is an attempt to overthrow the capitalist/feudal state and take power on behalf of workers as in Russia (1917), China (1949), Cuba, (1959) and Nicaragua (1979). But see Crusades.
7) Ethnic/Identity wars. These arise when times get bad and competition for scarce goods becomes bitter. At such times, the 'struggle of existence' becomes reduced to individuals, families, tribes, ethnic groups and other such narrow groundings for identity. Racism and nationalism tends to flare and gender politics become more brutal. In massified industrial societies, the social base for self becomes eroded; people look for new sources of self; some of which are more encompassing--some of which are less.
8) The current set of wars involving the UN forces are Wars of Capitalist Consolidation.
Globalized Capitalism can brook no interference with the free flow of raw materials (oil is the exemplar); with the free flow of goods and with the free flow of profits. Hence the Group of 7 orchestrate the use of military force to put down all other kinds of war above."
Additional Languages
Additional War, Sociology of Definition Starting Points
The following links are listed in alphabetical order. Please note we cannot guarantee War, Sociology of definitions are contextually accurate to Social Science at third party websites.
Expert Dictionary: War, Sociology of
