Injury in just war theory: From the traditional to the feminist perception

Abstract

The paper traces the evolution of just war discourse and its historicity. Taking St Augustine’s crucial definition of just war as a war to avenge injuries as our starting point, we focus on the concept of injury in ‘just war’ discourse. The genealogy of the notion of injury is traced through the continuities, ruptures, and leaps in the evolution of its meaning, starting from the conceptualization of just war in medieval thinking to its manifestation in feminist thought. It specifically explores two aspects of the way injury is conceptualized: the meaning ascribed to the actual concept of injury and, secondly, the constructed appropriate reaction to injury. In conclusion, we assess how far injury is indeed socially constructed and try to determine the impact of its socially constructed meaning on just war thinking and possibly warlike practices.