Humiliation, shame, and violence: Honor, trauma, and political extremism before and after the 2009 crisis in Greece
- Recent scholarship has mapped the dynamic between humiliation and violence, including the role of trauma and self-esteem. While existing research has mostly focused on individuals, there is a strong case for applying this framework to the macrosocial level. Taking an interdisciplinary approach that combines psychoanalysis, cultural anthropology, and political sociology, this paper carries out a step-by-step application of Gilligan’s shame/violence theory to the case of Greece, focusing on the post-2009 era known as >the Crisis.< This paper outlines the root causes of the shame/violence dynamic in Greece, with reference to communitarian moral codes and honor crimes, as well as political divisions, unresolved trauma, and shame/violence spirals originating in the mid-twentieth century. It then examines the role of humiliation during the current economic crisis, as well as the surge of political aggression. The application of Gilligan’s theory provides us with a compelling interpretation of civic culture in contemporary Greece, throwing light on patterns of collective self-harming behavior (>suicide by cop>) – as both a possible result of subjective humiliation, and a means of seeking pity and attention. The paper also identifies the existence of accumulated shame, which could lead to outbreaks of political extremism.
MetadatenAuthor: | Roman Gerodimos |
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Parent Title (English): | International Forum of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 31 (No. 1, 2022), pp. 034-045. |
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Document Type: | Articles |
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Language: | English |
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Year of first Publication: | 2022 |
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Release Date: | 2024/04/04 |
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Format: | PDF-scan upon request / PDF-Scan auf Anfrage |
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IdNo: | Gerodimos_R_2022 |
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Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive: | Articles / Artikel |
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Licence (German): | |
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