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Гонсалес Седилло Хоел Иван ПОИСК ИДЕНТИЧНОСТИ ...
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ПОИСК ИДЕНТИЧНОСТИ ДИСФУНКЦИОНАЛЬНОГО ОБЩЕСТВА И ЕГО ВЛИЯНИЕ НА ВОЗНИКНОВЕНИЕ ЭКСТРЕМИЗМА
© 2018
Гонсалес Седилло Хоел Иван, аспирант
Санкт-петербургский Государственный Университет (199034, Санкт-Петербург, Университетская набережная 7/9, e-mail: ivangzz.ced@gmail.com)
Аннотация. В статье рассматриваются корни экстремизма с точки зрения тех, кто пал на него, идентифицированных как жертвы в этой работе. Это инновационный подход, который пытается донести до общественного обсуждения экстремистов являются жертвами идеологии, общество вокруг них и безуспешной государственной политики и, как таковые, они могут быть предотвращены от падения на него. В этой работе особое внимание уделяется проблеме социальной интеграции и дискриминации в Европе как трансформирующегося общества, которое привело к уровням экстремизма и насилия, которые наблюдаются сегодня. Этот анализ позволил создать две модели, которые объясняют процесс поиска идентичности общества, который позволяет экстремизму и этапам людей и групп проходить, когда общество изгоняет их и ставит их на путь экстремизма. Эти модели могут быть использованы для понимания религиозного и политического экстремизма, а также других проявлений экстремизма в обществах. Однако представленные результаты не должны быть окончательными, а скорее предлагаемым средством анализа существования современных экстремистских движений в Европе и предоставления инновационных решений для борьбы с ними и предотвращения того, чтобы другие люди падали за них.
Ключевые слова: идентичность, экстремизм, дискриминация, дисфункциональное общество, этнонациона-лизм, дискурс, ксенофобия
THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY OF A DYSFUNCTIONAL SOCIETY AND ITS EFFECT ON THE EMERGENCE OF EXTREMISM
© 2018
Gonzalez Cedillo Joel Ivan, graduate student
Saint-Petersburg State University (199034, Saint-Petersburg, University Embankment Street 7/9, e-mail: ivangzz.ced@gmail.com)
Abstract. The article addresses the roots of extremism from the perspective of those who fell for it, identified as victims in this work. This is an innovative approach that tries to bring to the public discussion extremists are victims of an ideology, the society around them and unsuccessful public policy and as such, they can be prevented from falling for it. This work gives special attention to the problem of social integration and discrimination in Europe as a transforming society that has resulted in the levels of extremism and violence seen today. This work made possible the creation of two models that explain the process of search for identity of a society that enables extremism and the stages individuals and groups go through when a society expels them and puts them in the path of extremism. These models can be used to understand religious and political extremism, as well as other demonstrations of extremism in societies. However, the results presented are not supposed to be conclusive but rather a proposed means to analyze the existence of contemporary extremist movements in Europe and to provide innovative solutions to fight them and prevent other individuals from falling for them.
Keywords: identity, extremism, discrimination, dysfunctional society, ethno-nationalism, discourse, xenophobia.
Military conflicts and globalization have forced people in some specific regions move to safer zones. Forced migration does not occur out of the interest of people to move to a zone where they share similar values, language or traditions and because of this, integration could be a challenge for both, the migrant (recently arrived) and the local (receptor). With the barriers the recently arrived encounter in the receptor society, it is necessary to educate them on how they can develop themselves by keeping their identity and respecting that of the receptor, a task that is usually passed on to the State. The State could provide the needed assistance through an introduction program like the Swedish where a social orientation course is mandatory in order to obtain benefits, however, if the receptor society demonstrates rejection towards the recently arrived, any State sponsored integration program could fail in preventing their exclusion from society and further development of negative feelings towards the receptor [1].
When the recently arrived are rejected from the receptor society they become the unwanted, and are likely to look for security and belonging with others who they perceive as equals or less likely to reject them. H. Tajfel's social identity theory explores the relation between out-groups and in-groups, in this case the recently arrived and the receptor society [2]. Tajfel based his theory on mental processes like perception and self-esteem that the in-group uses to justify stereotyping and categorization of the other [2]. Fedorov and Filyushkin name the previous "exo-identity" or external identity, an identity assigned to an individual by others [3]. According to the social identity theory, the receptor society (in-group) will expel the unwanted (outgroup) based on mental processes of self-esteem looking for characteristics they see in the unwanted they do not like or think they do not share. However, Tajfel failed to provide a more exten-
sive description of the results this expulsion could bring. Additionally, this expulsion is not a casual minimal process in human interaction but rather a continuous process of search for identity that works by constantly expelling the unwanted.
The process of search for identity intends to describe how it is not only the individual the one responsible for their own extremism, but it is the society around them that can be responsible for it. Talking about immigration, currently, the problem is that dominant discourse around it claims it is the recently arrived the ones obliged to find the way to adapt to the society they enter (receptor) with the assistance of the government and sometimes, even without it. People already part of the receptor society are not willing to take part in the process of welcoming and reception of the recently arrived and leave it to the State. The State cannot act as a companion to every recently arrived person in their formation as a new member of the receptor society, therefore individual involvement of locals is necessary in different ways like volunteering, NGOs or simply by being more resonant to the recently arrived. When this involvement is not enough or is nonexistent, situations of confusion, friction and clashes can occur among the recently arrived and the receptor society out of the lack of understanding of each other, especially when both actors are from different socially constructed cultural groups.
This process describes not only identity issues related to ethnicity or nationality but also to other types of identity like sexual, cultural, professional, regional, political and more, in these other contexts the "recently arrived" can be simply known are "the other". The urgency of individuals to belong to a certain group renders the applicability of this process to any region; however, this work specifically has focused on identity issues related to ethnicity and nationality that
Gonzalez Cedillo Joel Ivan THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY ..
political sciences
emerge from immigration and more exactly, in the European continent. Identity issues related to ethnicity and nationality can evolve into a negative nationalism which as seen in European history, is a form of extremism that can result in extermination and ethnic cleansing of the unwanted [4].
When conflict related to identity arises, a society is no longer functional as identity is the catalyst that holds its members together. Identity issues make a society dysfunctional, in comparison to other issues the society may encounter like economic or political problems that may render the society act or move slower but not stop. Usually, identity issues can make the society stop to think who they are and who they want among them, as well as who they are not and who they do not want around , forcing a change from their roots to the top. This process can be represented graphically as below:
As mentioned, a society becomes dysfunctional when its identity is challenged and becomes conflictive as its members struggle to answer existential questions like "who are we?" or "who are we not?" (introspection) [5]. If answering these questions immediately expels other members who do not share some or all characteristics of the dominant group, then the society becomes dysfunctional. The dominant group (named in-group by Tajfel) does not have to be the majority of the population or the largest ethnic or national group. The dominant group is the one that considers their identity is shared or accepted by a large portion of the population that is not indigenous to it (dominated). This can be seen regionalized in the European continent, for example Tatarstan where Russian language is dominant and Islamic religious characteristics of Tatars have "secularized" in a more Russian European manner, despite the majority being ethnic Tatar. The state of California in the U.S. is a regional example in the former European American colonies where, despite being part of the U.S., some areas inhabited largely by Hispanics celebrate traditions characteristic of Anglo-Americans.
The identity of a society can be challenged in different ways, like social and cultural movements (positive: feminism, the LGBTQ, empowerment of ethnic and national minorities, negative: ethno-nationalism, religious supremacy) social phenomenon (immigration) and political events (elections, wars). Political events can find profitability in challenging the identity of a society to achieve its goals by targeting the flaws and weaknesses of it so it divides itself into groups that are easier to convince. This strategy works better in societies with already self-imposed sub-identities based on ethnicity, religion, culture or language as the divisions already exist, they just need to be put against each other. Social phenomena like immigration, that could be the result of political events, could challenge the identity of a society only if its foundations are not strong enough to welcome, absorb and integrate the identity of the recently arrived (immigrant) or having them assimilate. Canada is the perfect example of a society with a strong identity that is enriched with the arrival of people of different identities; on the other hand, the U.S. is the example of a society that for years constructed a model identity based on a specific ethnic group with clear religious and cultural characteristics that is easily challenged. Finally, positive social and cultural movements challenge the identity of a society to make it more inclusive and open for the traditionally dominated and the negative social and cultural movements seek the opposite, which is to maintain or regain control of the dominant over the dominated.
Once the identity of the society has been challenged, it becomes dysfunctional as its members find themselves trapped in conflictive situations of mistrust and humiliation, followed by lack of communication and inflicted and self-inflicted isolationism. As seen in graph 1, the dysfunctional society (A) will enter into the process of search for an identity that will culminate in becoming a functional society (B) again. In order to move from point A to point B, the dysfunctional society has to expel those who they consider make it dysfunctional, the unwanted. In the graph, the expulsion of the unwanted is represented as an arrow downwards under-
neath the line that represents the movement of the society from point A to B. This arrow downwards is the analogy of the unwanted being excluded from mainstream society and going into an "underground" stage. This expulsion happens in four stages (not to be confused with results), that range from the least inoffensive to the most severe and will be linked to the type of discourse (conservative or liberal) that dominates the society. In graph 1, conservative discourse is represented with a "+" sign, and liberal with "-", as an allusion to a political position that moves from the left (liberal) to the right (conservative). Seen in a separate graph, to understand the importance of reaching a value "0" or a moderate position, the second graph would look like this:
The values are as follows: 0 resonance of ideas in a moderate society, (-/+) 1 stereotyping (to harm and humiliate), (-/+) 2 claiming superiority, (-/+) 3 discrediting and ridiculing and (-/+) 4 preaching hate, discrimination and extermination. The central hypothesis of this graph is that as the liberal or conservative society advances into extremism it will expel members of it that are perceived as unwanted through discourse (-/+1, -/+2,-/+3) that culminate into actions (-/+4). This expulsion enables four results as seen in graph 1. The first one is the reincorporation into the society, but this time as a functional society, which will only be possible once those who first expelled them went through the whole process of self-reinvention and introspection and decided the unwanted are indeed part of the society. However, this is the positive and most desirable scenario to avoid violence, poverty and further conflicts. If the scenario is negative, meaning, the dysfunctional society has finished the process of search for identity and decided it is functional without the expelled unwanted, then result two is imminent. This result explains how the unwanted after being expelled and not reincorporated, have the option to stay in the same physical space of the dominant society and create parallel communities. In this communities that work as microcosmos, the unwanted can freely express who they are without the fear of repercussions and with the protection and security being around others perceived as similar can provide. This result is considered living in exile of the dominant society but it does not mean the unwanted will be completely isolated from the dominant, as they will continue to live in the same physical space and share it when going to work or grocery shopping. However, the unwanted and the dominant society can start claiming parts of the space and soon have their own neighborhoods, schools, grocery stores, parks and more, the other does not dare to visit.
Result three, represented in graph 1 by an arrow abruptly going upwards, is the unwanted that exhausted of the exclusion and rejection from the dominant society, decide to not live in exile or hiding and take an antagonist position to the mainstream perceived functional society. This only happens once the dysfunctional society considers they are functional without the unwanted and their idea of functionality completely excludes them. With this, extremism can be understood as the opposition to the considered socially constructed functionality rendering the individual dysfunctional. Therefore, whatever is considered extremist in one society may not be so in another with different history or values. The extremist is the result of the society's constant rejection based on characteristics they cannot control and the extremist's own fanaticism of the opposed considered socially functional. Because of this, the extremist can be "de-extrem-ized" by working on the roots of their rejection (the dominant society) and deconstructing their accepted perception of the functional. Result three has the peculiarity of causing violence on the society, inspired by a feeling of revenge on those who expelled the extremist and perceived as guilty of
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Гонсалес Седилло Хоел Иван ПОИСК ИДЕНТИЧНОСТИ ...
their fate.
Finally, result four is the extermination of the unwanted by the dominant society. This occurs when the dominant society considers it can functionally work without the unwanted and when they, still living in a parallel society (like result two), are perceived as a nuisance that endangers the existence of the dominant society and its basis. This result has been repeated untiringly in history, the most famous case is still Nazi Germany and the extermination of minorities like Jews, homosexuals and other unwanted groups [5]. In contemporary societies like Saudi Arabia, homosexuality is still seen as unwanted and can end up in death penalty (extermination). Result four should not be confused with value four of the stages of the expulsion of the unwanted through discourse. Though both involve the extermination of the unwanted from the dominant society, value four of the stages of the expulsion involve an escalated process that start at preaching hate, move on to discrimination and finalize in extermination, and result four is the simple extermination. However, result four does not limit exclusively to exterminate the unwanted by murdering them, but it can also include their deportation, in cases of immigration or national ethnic groups.
The thesis of this research has intended to provide a new approach to understanding the phenomenon of extremism and more exactly, how individuals are pushed into becoming extremists by the dominant society in which they grow in or arrive to, contradicting the current discourse that holds extremists themselves responsible and guilty for their ex-tremization. Through the two models built for this research, the search for an identity (graph 1) and the stages of the expulsion of the unwanted through discourse (graph 2) it has been possible to establish a theoretical principle to portray the dominant society that holds a single identity (mono-identity society) as a threat for the stability of the society itself when there are members of it that hold a different identity. The previous supports the central hypothesis of this thesis which proposes that the more accepted identities a society has, the less prone it is to fall into extremism.
This work has focused specifically in the presentation and explanation of the proposed models with an emphasis on ethnic and national identities. However, this research can serve as a starting point to analyzing other types of extremism, discrimination and extermination of individuals from different spheres in the societies, like the LGBTQ, women, the handicapped, political adversaries or religious affiliates. This research does not intend to be final or conclusive as societies behave differently based on their own history and characteristics, however, the two models can be used to come to a close understanding and conclusions of the explored issues, regardless of the society they are applied to.
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2. Tajfel, H. Social identity and social comparison. Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations // Annual Review Psychological. 1982. P. 24.
3. Федоров С.Е., Филюшкин А.И. История и теория наций и национализма: учебник. - СПБ.: Изд - во С. -Петерб. ун-та, 2016. C. 11.
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Статья поступила в редакцию 09.07.2018
Статья принята к публикации 27.08.2018
