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Identity-Based Mass Violence in Urban Contexts: Uncovered
574 pages, Hardcover
Published November 21, 2025
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December 27, 2025
This work is not just an academic exercise but a call for transformative action and collaboration, urging us to embrace pluralism and challenge structures of power.
In Canada, we can learn profoundly from our American neighbours, whose experiences detailed here: especially concerning institutional accountability and addressing gun violence through public health frameworks, provide a wealth of evidence and case studies for integrated and multisectoral urban prevention and protection practices.
Key Takeaways:
1. Structural violence, or slow violence, is the prerequisite for spectacular tragedy.
Canadian municipalities must recognize that planning and infrastructure decisions - such as locating affordable housing near industrial hazards or failing to invest in adequate cooling/safety infrastructure for vulnerable populations - are themselves forms of identity-based mass violence that reinforce inequality and exclusion. Policy must shift to a rights-based approach that guarantees human rights equally to all, rather than a needs-based development model that often displaces or endangers marginalized communities.
2. Traditional punitive policies must be replaced with restorative justice processes to promote dialogue and community-led accountability. When conflict arises, the focus must shift away from institutional responses (like suspensions or school-based arrests) towards dialogue and community-led accountability, ultimately protecting vulnerable students and disrupting racial inequities in our education pathways.
3. Strong governmental support and community engagement is needed for strategic investment in organizations that offer consistent mentorship, safe spaces, and alternatives to youth. A community-driven approach fosters the agency necessary for transformation in young people and actively disrupts generational barriers offering a sustainable alternative to solely punitive or policing-based strategies.
In Canada, we can learn profoundly from our American neighbours, whose experiences detailed here: especially concerning institutional accountability and addressing gun violence through public health frameworks, provide a wealth of evidence and case studies for integrated and multisectoral urban prevention and protection practices.
Key Takeaways:
1. Structural violence, or slow violence, is the prerequisite for spectacular tragedy.
Canadian municipalities must recognize that planning and infrastructure decisions - such as locating affordable housing near industrial hazards or failing to invest in adequate cooling/safety infrastructure for vulnerable populations - are themselves forms of identity-based mass violence that reinforce inequality and exclusion. Policy must shift to a rights-based approach that guarantees human rights equally to all, rather than a needs-based development model that often displaces or endangers marginalized communities.
2. Traditional punitive policies must be replaced with restorative justice processes to promote dialogue and community-led accountability. When conflict arises, the focus must shift away from institutional responses (like suspensions or school-based arrests) towards dialogue and community-led accountability, ultimately protecting vulnerable students and disrupting racial inequities in our education pathways.
3. Strong governmental support and community engagement is needed for strategic investment in organizations that offer consistent mentorship, safe spaces, and alternatives to youth. A community-driven approach fosters the agency necessary for transformation in young people and actively disrupts generational barriers offering a sustainable alternative to solely punitive or policing-based strategies.
Displaying 1 of 1 review