The Predator Culture: The Systemic Roots And Intent Of Organised Violence

Drawing on case studies of organized violence—ranging from territorial wars and colonial conquests to non-state variants such as organized crime—this record offers a general theory to account for the use of force in both the state and civil sectors of society. Challenging the popular views that the dominant forms of violence are due to failings of human nature, this volume suggests that the laws and institutions favoring an approach to property rights that encourage rent seeking are responsible. Addressing issues such as genocide and the gap between the rich and poor, this record proposes policies to dismantle the incentives that nurture the resort to violence by redistributing power to the individual. Annotation. Understanding the territorial basis of political power and wealth is the pre-requisite, the author argues, for making sense of issues as diverse as genocide, narco-gangsterism, terrorism and fascism. Fred Harrison draws on global-wide case studies to show how the violent birth of nation-states, whether the result of territorial conquests or colonialism, splits the population into two classes, victors and vanquished. This division is perpetuated and legitimated through the system of land tenure. The pathological consequences - as diverse as failed states, organised crime (mafia), religious fundamentalism and the re-emergence of piracy - are the result of the violent uprooting of the original inhabitants from their homelands. The struggle over land and resources, Harrison contends, is at the root of all of today's global crises. Some attempts are being made to restore land to those in need, ranging from the offer of land in Afghanistan to the Taliban as an inducement to set aside their violent strategies, to the sharing of the rents of oil in Nigeria to entice eco-warriors into mainstream politics. But these piecemeal tactics fail to synthesise the conditions for peace and prosperity. "The Predator Culture" provides a framework for truth and reconciliation in what has become a violent world that is slipping dangerously out of control