ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to trace the history of a structural analysis embedded in peace and conflict, from the early libertarianism of Marx, up until the modern anthropologists and poststructural peace theorists. It examines these connections but before doing so, it would seem a misstep to discuss structural theories without first referring to the "basic human needs theory" most often associated with John Burton. For a variety of theorists, the State is an inherently oppressive institution and perpetuator of violence. This sentiment is reflective of critical leftist thought, as seen most clearly from the anarchist, autonomist Marxist, communizationalist, and related discourses. Neo-Marxist continental philosophers such as Michael Hardt, Antonio Negri, Gilles Deleuze, and Felix Guattari have further nuanced conceptions of operationalized State power and its inherent violence. The poststructural analysis advances traditionalist Marxism by not focusing on the singular subjectivity of class, and instead looking at the totalizing effects of power and its inscription atop all relations, enacted through biopolitics.
