The critical factor in the emergence of citizenship is violence – that is, the overt and conscious struggle of social groups to achieve social participation. The primary instance of this violence is class conflict and we can define the main issue in class relationships about an issue about genuine participation and control. … These social movements have historically had their most significant impact under conditions of war, and warfare thus represents the second illustration of violence as the basis of citizenship.

Over the last thousand years, European states have undergone a peculiar evolution: from wasps to locomotives. … Tribute-taking states remained fierce but light in weight by comparison with their bulky successors; they stung, but they didn't suck dry. As time went on, states – even capital-intensive varieties – took on activities, powers and commitments whose very support constrained them. These locomotives ran on the rails of sustenance from civilian population and by a civilian staff. Off the rails, the warlike engines could not run at all.