Beyond Self-Defence: Unmasking Invisible Violence and the Business of Fear

Slavoj Žižek introduces the concept of “invisible violence,” where societal norms subtly shape our behavior without overt force. This idea is similar to “invisible Jiu-Jitsu,” a martial art concept that uses subtle moves to control an opponent without their awareness. Fear-based self-defense programs, often labeled as “anti-bullying” or “women’s empowerment,” focus on personal safety. They encourage reactive responses but overlook the systemic causes of violence.

Fear as a Product: Exploiting Vulnerabilities

Many industries commodify fear to create urgency and dependency. The beauty industry exploits insecurities about appearance to sell products. Security companies amplify fears of crime to market alarm systems. Similarly, self-defense programs thrive on promoting the inevitability of violence. The health and wellness industry capitalizes on anxieties about health and aging to sell supplements and treatments. In all these cases, businesses leverage personal vulnerabilities to drive demand.

However, fear-based marketing often ignores the real violence people face, which is usually normalized within societal structures. By focusing on individual solutions, these strategies can unintentionally normalize violence against women and children, failing to address the root causes embedded in cultural norms and systemic issues.

The Isolation of Individual Responsibility

These self-defense programs place the burden of safety on individuals—mainly women and children—instead of challenging the broader norms and systems that perpetuate violence. By relying on fear-based marketing, they ensure continued demand, offering temporary empowerment while reinforcing victim-aggressor roles. This approach avoids addressing the cultural assumptions that sustain violence, keeping individuals on guard while systemic issues remain unchallenged.

Sustaining Social Roles Through Hidden Norms
Žižek’s analysis shows how societal structures assign roles without direct coercion, much like the subtle techniques in invisible Jiu-Jitsu. These norms teach people to navigate existing power structures without questioning them. Hannah Arendt also argues that violence arises when collective power—the ability to act together—is missing. Self-defense programs that focus on individual preparedness reflect this breakdown of collective power, promoting isolation instead of cooperation.

This strategy leaves social hierarchies unchanged and normalizes the expectation of conflict. By teaching people to adapt to violence rather than addressing its root causes, these programs reinforce the dynamics they aim to counter. This mirrors how the beauty industry perpetuates unrealistic standards, pushing individuals to conform instead of challenging the norms that create insecurity.

The Need for Collective Responsibility

According to Arendt, power comes from collective action and shared goals. When cooperation fails, violence fills the gap. Self-defense programs emphasizing individual solutions mirror this failure of collective power. They equip individuals to handle violence alone but do little to change the conditions that create it.

We need to shift towards collective responsibility. Programs that focus on collaboration, empathy, and emotional awareness empower people to build power together, reducing the need for reactive responses. This proactive engagement fosters stronger connections and more resilient communities. Similar to community health initiatives that promote well-being through collective efforts, collective action can address the root causes of violence.

Engaging Everyone: Challenging Norms Together

Both Žižek and Arendt stress the importance of challenging societal norms that sustain violence. Programs that focus only on women and children miss a crucial part—engaging men and boys. Excluding them reinforces the idea that managing violence is solely the responsibility of women and children, perpetuating gendered expectations.

Involving men and boys fosters empathy and accountability. Collaborative learning environments encourage everyone to question societal norms and promote healthier relationships. Shifting from individual preparedness to collective responsibility creates communities where power, rooted in cooperation, thrives, reducing the need for violence. This inclusive approach mirrors successful public health campaigns that involve entire communities to create change.

From Fear to Empowerment: Embracing Change Together

Invisible Jiu-Jitsu shows that subtle, unnoticed techniques can be more powerful than force. Similarly, dismantling structural violence requires subtle yet meaningful changes: fostering trust, building empathy, and encouraging cooperation. Programs based on fear offer immediate solutions but do not address root causes. Cooperative approaches empower individuals to reshape their environments and prevent violence from the ground up.

Replacing fear with connection strengthens resilience, reduces aggression, and fosters a sense of belonging. When people feel supported by their community, the conditions that allow violence to persist start to fade. Fear-based marketing, by normalizing violence against women and children, fails to address these root causes and instead continues the cycle of violence.

By creating environments based on mutual trust and shared responsibility, we can challenge the norms that perpetuate violence and exploitation. Recognizing the similarities between self-defense programs and other forms of fear-based marketing highlights the need to move from individual, reactive solutions to collective, proactive approaches. Empowering communities through cooperation and shared responsibility offers a more effective path to addressing the systemic causes of violence and creating lasting change.

References

• Žižek, Slavoj (2008). Violence: Six Sideways Reflections.
• Arendt, Hannah (1970). On Violence.
• Invisible Jiu-Jitsu: A principle in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu focused on subtle, efficient techniques that control opponents without visible force, used here as a metaphor for unseen societal norms that perpetuate violence.
• Wolf, Naomi (1991). The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women.