[Monica Carrer]

Hello, good question! It’s a big question because there are a lot of ways of profiting from different kinds of violence in different contexts, and there will be a lot of research done on more specific areas, for example who profits from wars, and there is probably literature on climate change, etc. Some profits are due to the market economy (for example selling weapons, fossil fuels, etc), and on more micro/ everyday level there are also many ways in which violence and exploitation can be profitable. Also, inciting many forms of violence and discrimination, or simply not addressing it can be a powerful way of winning political support. I think that it always takes people’s activism and a vigilant society to ensure that various forms of violence are addressed and eradicated… if it’s left to those in power they will of course tend to fulfil their own interest and may not be motivated to act in favour of groups that can be silenced or ignored. What are your thought? It could be a very long conversation!

[nico]

I learned that almost always there is needed support of at least some of those who benefit from social injustice to achieve social change.

In Germany there is a website called “Handelsregister” where companies have to publish financial results, the owners and probably other stuff. I think that it is possible to write a program that lists the owners and the amount of money they paid themselves. But they are hiding for a reason. I think it is because of fear. So would exposing them be an act of violence?

Additionally I think that people who were victims of violence often blame the wrong person. I wondered if there is a trickle down effect of violence in capitalism?

Rebecca Solnit wrote that the climate crisis should be called violence too. The climate movement seems to struggle to reach the people that will be affected most because these people think they have problems that are more urgent. May these problems all relate to violence they are victims of? May the victimhood of violence be the factor that could motivate people to change the system?

[Monica Carrer]

Yes, sure. The more collaboration between different groups in societies -victims and others – the better. And I agree that climate crisis is a form of violence, as it may seem as something abstract, but people experience its consequences in their lives, and that is very real. Even here in Australia there are more and more disasters, people losing everything. Will be worse elsewhere. Transparency and accountability are important, and exposing financial gains can be a form of activism, but yes it’s best if proper research is done. We do need proper information to make change happen, that’s why I am very passionate about connecting research and action. This is what this platform is about.

And in regards to the fear, it could be fear of safety, sure, or just fear of losing profits, shame, etc… probably a mix of both?

[nico]

Thank you very much for your thoughts and your work in general!

If we want those who benefit to collaborate, we need to show that there is a real and systematic problem.

Laura Bates started the Everyday Sexism Project and I think it was pretty successful. This may be because it backed up anonym statistics with stories the readers could relate to and because of the hundreds of thousands of stories. Are you aware of a platform to share experiences of violence without having to login? Like an Everyday Violence Project?

By the way: I found your initiative by searching for the above.

[Monica Carrer]

Hi Nico,

Sorry for the late reply. Yes I am also interested in sharing stories of everyday violence, I am not aware of a specific platform, but there are researchers that do this in academia. I also had started collecting experiences of everyday violence through questionnaires, in this project https:///the-everyday-peace-toolkit-project/, also other research I have done in India, I have published a book about it. There are a lot of feminists who look at gendered experiences, and other kinds of violence are researched in other subfields. My future research agenda is to research how different forms of violence are interconnected through everyday experiences – and how we can change that. I had added a functionality to post anonymously in this platform, although creating an account is needed for people to be able to go back to their account and interact more, we might get more interaction as we go (so far I was focused on creating this space). There are organisations that collect stories, usually it is focused on some kind of violence or specific contexts. Anyways, do post here if you find work of other organisations or researchers who work on this area or stories. Very interested! Thanks!

The Everyday Peace Toolkit Project - The Everyday Peace Initiative

The Everyday Peace Toolkit Project - The Everyday Peace Initiative