About the Book
A novel analysis of the aftermath of the most appalling terrorist act in Russian history, the seizure of a school and the violent deaths of hundreds of hostages, and insights into why it triggered unprecedented peaceful political activism instead of the widely predicted retaliatory ethnic violence.Starting on September 1, 2004, and ending 53 hours later, Russia experienced its most appalling act of terrorism in history, the
seizure of School No. 1 in Beslan, North Ossetia. Approximately 1,200 children, parents, and teachers were taken hostage. Over 330 were killed, hundreds more seriously wounded, and all severely traumatized. When does such
violence fuel greater acceptance of retaliatory violence, and when does violence fuel nonviolent participation in politics?In After Violence, Debra Javeline addresses this crucial question by exploring the motivations behind individual responses to violence. The mass hostage taking was widely predicted to provoke a spiral of retaliatory ethnic violence in the North Caucasus, where the act of terror was embedded in a larger context of ongoing conflict between
Ossetians, Ingush, and Chechens. Politicians, journalists, victims, and other local residents asserted that vengeance would come. Instead, the hostage taking triggered unprecedented peaceful political activism on a
scale seen nowhere else in Russia. Beslan activists challenged authorities, endured official harassment, and won a historic victory against the Russian state in the European Court of Human Rights. Using systematic surveys of 1,098 victims (82%) and 2,043 nearby residents, in-depth focus groups, journalistic accounts, investigative reports, NGO reports, and prior scholarly research, Javeline provides insights into this unexpected but favorable outcome. The first book to
analyze the aftermath of large-scale violence with evidence from almost all direct victims, After Violence offers novel findings about the influence of anger, prejudice, alienation, efficacy, and other
variables on post-violence behavior.
Table of Contents:
Tables
Figures
Acknowledgments
Glossary of individuals
Introduction: Peace after violence in Beslan
Part I: The Beslan school hostage taking
Chapter 1: Grievances against ethnic rivals
Chapter 2: Political grievances
Chapter 3: The surprisingly nonviolent aftermath
Chapter 4: The surprisingly political aftermath
Part II: Why politics and nonviolence?
Chapter 5: Anger and other emotions
Chapter 6: Ethnic prejudice
Chapter 7: Political alienation and blame
Chapter 8: Social alienation versus social support
Chapter 9: Self-efficacy and political efficacy
Chapter 10: Biography (demographics, prior harm, and prior activism)
Chapter 11: A portrait of political activists and violent retaliators
Part III: Generalizing findings from Beslan victims
Chapter 12: Should results apply to nonvictims?
Chapter 13: Should results apply to victims in other places and times?
Conclusion: Peace after violence
Appendix A: Chronology of activities after the Beslan school hostage taking
Appendix B: Survey and focus group methodologies
References
Index
About the Author :
Debra Javeline is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame and a fellow of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Kellogg Institute for International Studies, Nanovic Institute for European Studies, Russian and East European Studies Program, and Environmental Change Initiative. Her research interests include mass political behavior, survey research, Russian politics, sustainability,
environmental politics, and climate change. She focuses on the decisions of ordinary citizens, whether in response to violence or climate impacts, and she is currently exploring coastal homeowner motivations to take
action to reduce their risk from rising seas, hurricanes, and other hazards.
Review :
Debra Javeline has made a major contribution to the study of ethnic killing and its aftermath. Meticulously researched, After Violence elucidates the parts played by political efficacy and involvement, anger, and prejudice in determining the very different reactions of individuals to a major violent episode and their disposition to retaliate. This is a highly significant work of political psychology.
Javeline dissects the individual responses to a horrific massacre in order to identify, explore, and explicate the transformation of grievance and anger into peaceful political activism rather than retaliatory ethnic violence. Thorough, rigorous, and deeply human, this is an exemplary piece of research on the politics of violence, carrying important and wide-ranging implications.
Focusing on individual responses to the unspeakable violence committed against them, Debra Javeline's magnificent study of how victims of the Beslan tragedy responded with sustained nonviolent activism demonstrates that the reaction to bloodshed need not be more bloodshed, defying expectations and inspiring hope in a world seemingly dominated by headlines of revenge and ethnic hatreds.
This intensely moving book explores the 2004 Beslan school terrorist siege in Russia's North Ossetia region in vivid detail, describing how Russian authorities first bungled a rescue attempt and then ignored or harassed the surviving victims and families who searched for answers. Javeline explores the political choices victims made in the aftermath, focusing on how and why anger spawned the most sustained peaceful political protests in Putin's Russia, rather than the retaliatory ethno-religious violence that many expected. Javeline uses multiple methods, including on-the-ground focus groups and the words of many involved individuals, to draw out emotions and motivations, while paying meticulous attention to social science research design. This book is destined to become a classic in the literature on political violence.
After Violence does the unexpected—and does it consummately! Unlike most studies of mass violence, which focus on its 'upstream' causes, Javeline looks 'downstream'—at the reactions of the victims, their neighbors, and the authorities. The strategy pays off magnificently: in contrast to the common focus on escalation, she finds peaceful protest. This is a book I that scholars of violence and of peaceful protest will want to read and reflect on.
Javeline poses a 'murder mystery': why in spite of all theories and evidence pointing toward the Beslan school massacre generating interethnic warfare, did it result in a large-scale nonviolent social movement? In particular, what was it about the individuals involved that led to this outcome? A fascinating read.
Over 3 days in early September 2004, some 1200 students, teachers and parents were taken hostage in School No. 1 in Beslan, North Ossetia, Russia. Over 330 would die in the school seizure, but nearly 900 would survive. How would the experience shape their subsequent attitudes and behavior? In this extraordinary book, Javeline draws on direct data from nearly all survivors to answer the question. Her findings are illuminating and surprising in equal measure. This is engaged social science at its very best.
The hostage taking at School No. 1 in Beslan, in Russia's multinational North Caucasus, in 2004, was a horrendous act of terrorism, brought to an end by security forces with heavy casualties. Many expected the siege to be followed by a wave of intercommunal violence, but the wave did not materialize. Debra Javeline's exhaustively researched and elegantly written study explains why this was so and draws lessons for broader understandings of life and politics after conflict.
