Detail of photograph by Rupi Kaur
Thanks for another cool class! I was truly astounded by the vast spectrum of responses elicited by the Blood bot's latest tweet. You can learn more about Rupi Kaur's provocative and arresting image here.
I hope my tripartite distinction between scapegoating as an explanatory model of racism, the Biblical origins of the scapegoat, and its Ancient Greek version (the pharmakos) proved useful.
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| William James Webbe, Sending out the Scapegoat (19th Century Engraving) |
As I mentioned in the lecture, this Human Rights Watch article instructively underscores the widespread scapegoating of Asians and Muslims as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As we also discussed in class, Renée Girard understands sacrifice as a religious ritual which channels and displaces what would otherwise be an endless cycle of mimetic violence in order to (re-)create social unity. In this respect, his work echos and draws upon the Biblical, Ancient Greek and social scientific traditions of theorizing and enacting the scapegoat. We'll see next week how Young Karl Marx also deploys the scapegoat motif as he grapples with the contradictions and miseries produced by the industrial capitalist society of his day.
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| François Perrier, The Sacrifice of Iphigenia (1632-33, oil on canvas) |
For this week's blogging assignment, I'd like you to identify and describe an example of scapegoating from history, religion, politics, current affairs, film, literature or your own life experience. How would your example align with and/or challenge the scapegoating mechanisms articulated by the Book of Leviticus, the Greek pharmakos, Human Rights Watch and/or Girard's theory of sacrifice?
As always, if you would prefer, you may pose one question which arose for you in relation to this week's reading, lecture and/or tutorial.
I'm looking forward to reading your blogs!