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“Violence and Society”
International Conference
16-17 May 2026 – London/Online
organised by
London Centre for Interdisciplinary Research
Violence, in its many visible and invisible forms, remains one of the most pressing challenges facing societies across the world. It shapes everyday experiences, social relations, political structures, cultural expressions and historical trajectories. From interpersonal and domestic violence to collective, institutional and structural forms of harm, violence operates at multiple levels and often intersects with inequality, power, memory, identity, and resistance.
This international conference seeks to create a critical, interdisciplinary space for examining how violence is produced, experienced, represented, regulated, resisted and remembered within societies. It aims to foster dialogue across disciplines in order to deepen understanding of the root causes and consequences of violence, as well as the possibilities for prevention, healing, justice and social transformation.
We invite scholars, researchers, practitioners and activists to reflect on violence not only as an act or event, but also as a social process embedded in historical, political, economic, cultural and symbolic systems. Particular attention is welcomed on how violence is normalised, silenced, challenged or transformed, and on the voices and experiences of those most affected by it.
Conference panels will explore a wide array of themes related to violence and society, reflecting the diversity and complexity of this critical issue. We welcome paper submissions across the following themes:
- Social, cultural and historical perspectives on violence
- Physiology and psychology of aggression and violence
- Crime and criminology
- Race- and gender-based violence
- Religion and violence
- Domestic violence
- Conflict and war
- Cruelty to animals
- Spaces of violence
- Violence in the media
- Violent sports
- Youth violence
- Violence in the digital age
- Violence in literature and art
- Nonviolence and pacifist movements
- Legal frameworks and human rights
The conference will bring together scholars from different fields including philosophy, psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, literature, linguistics, architecture, geography and others.
Proposals up to 250 words should be sent by 10 February 2026 to: violence.society@lcir.co.uk. Download Paper proposal form.
Registration fee (online participation) – 90 GBP
Registration fee (physical participation) – 150 GBP
Provisional conference venue: Birkbeck, University of London