Organized violence—war, armed revolt, genocide, lynching, targeted killings, torture, routine discrimination, terrorism, trauma, and suffering—is a daily reality for some, while for others it is a sound bite or a news clip seen in passing and easily forgotten. Rigorous scholarly research of the social and cultural conditions of organized violence, its genesis, dynamic, and impact, is fundamental to addressing questions of local and global conflict and its impact on the human condition.
In the current issue, you will find two topical sections, one on the experience and dilemmas of studying perpetrators of organized violence, another on how state and non-state sovereignties are enforced, in particular in Latin America. These sections are followed by book reviews.