Violenza: una lettura sistemica. Verso un’antropologia relazionale

This paper analyses the topic of violence considered from a twofold point of view: the epistemological stance of complex thought and the scientific stance of change in dynamic systems. Our basic presupposition is that the definitions of violence and of violent practices are always historical and context-dependent and that each social system acts to fight or to strengthen these definitions and this practices: the social environment, where many human actors interact, always informs us about the limits within which the violent phenomena may and must be considered. Interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity are necessary conditions to profitably approach this field of investigation. Cultural anthropology is situated in a strategic position within the broader field of complex system sciences. It is an open discipline placed in ongoing dialogue with many other branches of knowledge. It is also a field able to challenge many presuppositions in our traditional cognitive practices, that were taken for granted until now, in order to seek more effective practices and conceptual landscapes for the understanding of our world.