Small Arms, Crime and Conflict

Greene, Owen and Nicholas Marsh eds. 2011. Small Arms, Crime and Conflict: Global Governance and the Threat of Armed Violence. London and New York: Routledge

This edited volume is published by Routledge and focuses on the use of small arms in violence and attempts by the state to govern the use and acquisition of these weapons.

It is likely that hundreds of thousands of people are killed every year as a result of armed violence – in contexts ranging from war zones to domestic violence. This edited volume examines why these deaths occur, the role of guns and other weapons, and how governance can be used to reduce and prevent those deaths. Drawing on a variety of disciplines, ranging from anthropology through economics to peace and security studies, the book’s main concern throughout is that of human security – the causes and means of prevention of armed violence.

The first part of the book concerns warfare, the second armed violence and crime, and the last governance of arms and their (mis)-use. The concluding chapter builds on the contributors’ key findings and suggests priorities for future research, with the aim of forming a coherent narrative which examines what we know, why armed violence occurs, and what can be done to reduce it.

The book's contents are:

1. Introduction Owen Greene and Nicholas Marsh 

2. The Tools of Insurgency: a Review of the Role of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Warfare Nicholas Marsh 

3. Small Arms and Light Weapons Spread and Conflict Mike Bourne 

4. Lethal Instruments: Small Arms and Deaths in Armed Conflict Joakim Kreutz and Nicholas Marsh 

5. Regaining State Control: Arms and Violence in Post-Conflict Countries Joakim Kreutz, Nicholas Marsh and Manuela Torre 

6. Armed Violence within Societies Owen Greene and Nicholas Marsh 

7. Guns and Deaths: A Critical Review Thomas Jackson and Nicholas Marsh 

8. Armed Violence Taking Place Within Societies: SALW And Armed Violence In Urban Areas Valentina Bartolucci and Anna Betsy Kanneworff 

9. Arms, Private Militias and Fragile State Dynamics Owen Greene and Ariel Macaspac Penetrante 

10. Governance and Small Arms and Light Weapons Owen Greene and Nicholas Marsh 

11. Governance and Control of SALW After Armed Conflicts Mike Bourne and Owen Greene 

12. Small Arms and Light Weapons Production as Part of a National and Global Defence Industry Dimitar Dimitrov and Peter Hall 

13. What Do the Natives Know: Societal Mechanisms for Controlling Small Arms Michael Ashkenazi 

14. Conclusions and Priorities for Further Research Owen Greene and Nicholas Marsh

This book will be of much interest to students of small arms, security studies, state fragility and state building, global governance, peace and conflict studies, criminology and IR.