Violence, change and continuity in times of transition

This article discusses how analyses of conflict often overlook competing interpretations of violence in times of change and transition. As a result, in historiography as well as in public discourse, wars just ‘end’ while neglecting the phenomena that are overlapping war and peaceful periods. This article argues that, along the dimensions of state domination, economy and law, alternative periodizations are required to do justice to actors whose politics are often not very strategic yet important for the political dynamics of transitions. Violence, we argue, can be used as a marker and entry point into the complex politics of change, which are motivated by ideology, opportunity, societal dynamics and lack of coherent control by the state or other institutions.