At first glance, MMA, rape, bar fights, toy guns, videogames like Call of Duty, military bases and battlefields appear unrelated; however, a closer examination of these belligerent and dehumanizing social practices reveals that they are intimately connected on what some activists refer to as the ‘continuum of violence’ (Cockburn, 2012). In order to see and understand the relationship between these seemingly separate social practices it is important to apply a critical gender-based lens. Without such lens the forces, causalities and connections between them remain hidden behind an ideological veil that reduces brutalizing and dominating practices to empty notions of, “entertainment,” “pleasure,” “safety,” “security” and “protection.”

As a conceptual framework, the continuum of violence allows us to see the relationship between belligerent social structures such as, warfare, prisons and violence against women during ‘peacetime.’ The continuum permits for the elevation of both causality and influence between phenomena, which exist in a state of constant generation and movement along the continuum. In the words of Cockburn, “violence in our everyday cultures, deeply gendered, predisposes societies to accept warfare as normal. And the violence of militarization and war, profoundly gendered, spills back into everyday life and increases the quotient of violence in it” (para. 2).

Drawing on her research pertaining to women antiwar activist organizations between 2003-2007, Cockburn concludes that the root causes of warfare revolve around the following three forces: (i) capitalism, (ii) nationalism as well as the often ignored force of (iii) patriarchy. As capitalist ideology and its inherent social relations would have it, greed, corporate objectives linked to the maximization of profits at the expense of human life and the environment combined with outright competition for resources and markets form a major root cause. Alongside capitalism, nationalist claims to land and a constant struggle geared towards achieving religious and ethnic superiority lie at the foundation of warfare. Finally, Cockburn draws specific attention to the forgotten and pervasive power of patriarchy. As mentioned by Cockburn, “They’re [women antiwar activist organizations] not afraid of that old fashioned word. Gender relations that involve male supremacy, violent hierarchies of men and complicit, compliant or victimized femininities – patriarchy seems to them to be a cause of militarism and war. Not in the same immediate sense as those other causes of war, but present as a root cause, a predisposing factor” (para. 4).

As an incredibly powerful historical force, patriarchy assists us in the course of understanding the reasons and processes that lie behind the transformation of boys and men into a form of labour power capable and willing to conduct state sanctioned murder. Put another way, soldiering is a learned process that systematically instrumentalizes mental processes and human behaviours that turn otherwise nonmilitary minds and bodies into weapons of domination and control. As a way to combat the terror of male violence at home and abroad Cockburn points out, “Women find themselves looking at everyday cultures of violence, and the part they play in making actual war, armed conflict, thinkable and do-able” (para. 5) in the first place.

The continuum of violence allows us to see the extreme simplicity and naivety that exists in the belief that “minor” thoughts and actions of violence have absolutely nothing to do with “major” thoughts and actions of violence. Drawing on the work of Cynthia Enloe (as cited in Cockburn, 2012: para. 6), Cockburn states, “militarization is much, much more than the obvious bristly things – helicopter gunships and kalashnikovs. It’s threaded intimately through our lives – it’s in the videos and films we watch, in the way products are styled and marketed, the language we use without thinking.”

The continuum of violence allows us to see, for instance, that the Israeli/U.S. openair slaughter of Palestinian men, women and children is intimately connected to acts of violence and aggression during ‘peacetime.’ Put another way, the toxic masculinity and violation of a woman’s body during ‘peacetime’ operates in and through the same patriarchal logic of gendered militarism that informs the extermination of innocent Palestinians. As a “violence-generating social order,” (Cockburn, 2012: para. 15) patriarchy forms the backbone of war, militarism and violence against women during ‘peacetime’ – all of which raises an important realization: the abolition of war, militarism and violence against women is contingent upon our individual and collective ability to abolish, not only capitalism and nationalism in the case of war, but also, the forgotten force of patriarchy.

While walking up to the front gates of a military base and closing it down singlehandedly might be desirable it will never happen. But do not be dissuaded as the continuum of violence shows us that there are multiple points of intervention along the continuum. Whether one or a collective intervenes at the level of the home, community or battlefield itself, all interventions work towards reducing the harms that emanate from a violence-generating social order.

From an anti-militarist standpoint, the objective here revolves around weaking a highly organized violence-generating social order. (Un)fortunately, there are multiple points of intervention, so get organized and start intervening! Without intervenors the violence-generating systems such as the military and the violence-generating social order of patriarchy solidify and gain additional momentum on their path towards the maximization of domination, control, and if left unchecked, our complete annihilation.

While taking on the ‘big institutions’ of our time might be a desirable entry point, Cockburn reminds us that women antiwar activist organizations always prioritize individual survivors. In the words of Cockburn, “The individual survivor matters to them, more than anything else. That’s where their politics begin” (para. 11). Put another way, survivors of male violence (e.g., rape survivors, war veterans, formerly incarcerated people, etc.) cannot heal alone. We need each other on both ends of the spectrum to challenge the root causes of war, militarism and violence against women as well as to heal from the wounds of the everyday battles fought under capitalist, nationalist and patriarchal conditions. 

Instead of turning the light switch off, Cockburn encourages us to turn the light switch on through a gender lens and see the ways in which specific forms of masculinity distort and divide us from ourselves, each other and Mother Earth. In the words of Cockburn, “I think what we need above all, our fundamental need in both movements [mainstream mixed and women antiwar activist organizations], is a way of thinking, a theory of violence, if you like, that offers actual possibilities of violence reduction wherever violence occurs” (para. 17).

For Cockburn, the continuum of violence provides us all with a framework that maps out the intimate relationship between time (pre-war, post-war, ‘peacetime’), place (home, community, warzone) and scale (open handed slap, fist, boot, gun to prisons, missiles and nuclear bombs) – as it’s all related!

As a strategy, the continuum of violence permits for both a politically insightful conceptualization as well as an entry point against a multitude of ‘minor’ and ‘major’ causal factors that work in and through each other to colonize our minds, time, energy and skills. Without our minds, time, energy and skills the violence-generating system of the military and the violence-generating social order of patriarchy have nowhere to plant and grow their seeds of destruction.

It is up to us individually and collectively to push back against the normalization of violence wherever it rears its ugly head. Together we can struggle against and breakdown the belligerent forces that work against humanity and construct a world based on a peace-generating system and social order that truly recognizes and observes the principles of human dignity, respect and worth – not only ideologically, but also, materially.

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References

Cockburn, Cynthia. “Don’t talk to me about war. My life’s a battlefield.” Open Democracy, 25 Nov 2012, https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/dont-talk-to-me-about-war-my-lifes-battlefield/. Accessed 7 January 2025.