Introduction: On the Generality of Violence and the Violence of Particularity

In the introduction to the volume Contours of Change: A Decade of Transformative Inquiry at CAS SEE, I consider theories of violence and historicity as a frame to the collection as a whole. In particular, I adapt Walter Benjamin's critique of violence as a means in order to shed light on the representational violence that often targets the Balkans as a region. I then briefly summarize each of the contributions .