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https://www.amazon.com/Violence-Hannah-Arendt/dp/0713901497 

On Violence
by Hannah. Arendt (Author) Format: Hardcover
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars (32)

Print length 112 pages
Language English
Publisher 
Harcourt Brace & World
Publication date January 1, 1970
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Hannah Arendt famously argued that power and violence are opposites. In her foundational 1970 essay On Violence, she posited that while power relies on collective action, legitimacy, and public consent, violence is inherently instrumental—relying on tools and implements to force compliance. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Arendt's core distinctions regarding violence include:

• Violence vs. Power: Power stems from people acting together and requires no justification; it is an end in itself. Violence, however, is a means to an end, and because it requires external tools to function, it destroys the very space required for true power to exist. [1, 2, 4]
• Violence as Impotence: When genuine power begins to slip away—often due to bureaucratic alienation or a loss of public trust—rulers and political bodies turn to violence as a desperate substitute. Violence can always destroy power, but it can never create or replace it. [1, 2, 3]
• The Problem of the "Means": Because modern technology and weaponry (such as nuclear arms) have become so infinitely destructive, Arendt argued that traditional wars fought for political objectives are obsolete. The means of violence now threaten to annihilate the political world entirely. [1, 2]
• Glamorization vs. Reality: She warned against the radical romanticization or glorification of violence by revolutionary groups. She noted that those who preach that "power grows out of the barrel of a gun" fail to understand that a gun can produce submission, but never true, lasting power. [1, 2]

You can read deeper into her exploration of these themes in the full text of On Violence or her broader political philosophy regarding totalitarianism. [1, 2, 4]

Would you like to explore:

• How Arendt defines bureaucracy and its role in modern violence?
• The historical events (like the Vietnam War or student protests of the 1960s) that prompted this essay?
• How her views compare to other political theorists?