APSA (@apsa.bsky.social)

Political Symbols and Social Order: Confederate Monuments and Performative Violence in the Post-Reconstruction U.S. South Political Symbols and Social Order: Confederate Monuments and Performative Violence in the Post-Reconstruction U.S. South By Lee-Or Ankori-Karlinsky, Brown University Violent conflicts are often accompanied by symbols commemorating past violence. I argue that political symbols exert a causal effect on future violence. Such symbols generate shared understandings of the prevailing social order. Symbols that affirm this order may act as substitutes for performative violence motivated by status concerns, while their removal may signal contestation, increasing violence. http://politicalsciencenow.com/political-symbols-and-social-order-confederate-monuments-and-performative-violence-in-the-post-reconstruction-u-s-south/