War as a Social Process. Reflections on Siniša Malešević’s Book “War and Society”

Abstract

The Russian-language edition of Siniša Malešević’s War and Society was published in 2026 as a translation of The Sociology of War and Violence, first issued by Cambridge University Press in 2010. The book offers a sociological explanation of war and organized violence. Malešević links the capacity of modern societies to wage prolonged mass warfare to two historical processes: the cumulative bureaucratization of violence and centrifugal (mass) ideologization. The former refers to the development of organizations and institutions capable of mobilizing, disciplining and controlling large numbers of people; the latter to the expanding capacity to disseminate and institutionalize ideological representations that justify violence. The review examines the theoretical foundations of this concept, the historical analysis of military and state organization, the interpretation of nationalism and propaganda, microsocial cohesion, and the chapters on social stratification and “new wars.” Particular attention is paid to the way Malešević connects military organization with state-building and ideology with the legitimization of collective violence. The book’s strengths include its integration of classical and contemporary sociological theories, comparison of historical cases, and attention to how mass violence becomes organizationally possible and socially justified. At the same time, Malešević’s concept explains the mechanisms that enable societies to wage mass war more comprehensively than it does the causes of particular armed conflicts. The review also notes his limited engagement with the Russian tradition of the sociology of war, especially the works of Pitirim A. Sorokin and Nikolai N. Golovin.