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Managers spend considerable amounts of corporate money to hire consultants. The research proposes two potential benefits of consultants' advice: increasing decision accuracy and sharing responsibility with the advisor. In contrast to previous research, which has predominantly focused on factors influencing decisional accuracy, this paper evaluates the sharing of responsibility in the form of using an advisor as a scapegoat. We conduct an online experiment with 175 managers from German-speaking countries in an investment setting. We find that the presence of a potential scapegoat positively affects advice utilization in an economic boom but negatively affects such utilization in an economic crisis due to managers' varying risk perceptions. Managers' risk perceptions are the main drivers of scapegoating as a form of managerial blame avoiding decision-making. We contribute to management research and highlight managers’ opportunistic motives behind consulting (costly) advice.

According to René Girard’s mimetic theory, all desire is the imitation of another person’s desire, thus violence results from destructive competition. The violence originating from mimetic desire can concern any object: the fact that an object is in possession of someone else makes it attractive to the point of inducing the outbreak of violence. Therefore, differences are not the source of violence, as Girard says, but similarities. In this article, I have tried to explain causes, mechanisms and effects of the mimetic desire, and to outline Girard’s pessimistic view of the world. The apocalypse has begun., Zgodnie z teorią mimetyczną René Girarda, według której każde pragnienie jest naśladowaniem pragnienia innej osoby, wszelka przemoc wynika z destrukcyjnej rywalizacji. Przemoc będąca następstwem pragnienia mimetycznego może dotyczyć każdego przedmiotu: fakt, że przedmiot ten jest w posiadaniu kogoś innego, czyni go atrakcyjnym do tego stopnia, że wzbudza zachowania, które mogą prowadzić do wybuchu przemocy. Zatem to nie różnice są źródłem przemocy, jak mówi Girard, ale podobieństwa. W artykule starałem się wyjaśnić przyczyny, mechanizm i skutki pragnienia mimetycznego oraz nakreślić pesymistyczną wizję upadku świata według Girarda, który uważa, że apokalipsa już się zaczęła.

Widespread fear that hosting refugees will mean more terrorism in host states is at theheart of the ‘refugee crisis’. Yet, we lack rigorous evidence for such claims. This articletheoretically unpacks how and under what conditions transnational refugee movementsplausibly lead to different types of terrorist outcomes. Combining original data witha multi-pronged approach involving a treatment-placebo design as well as instrumentalvariable estimation, we provide systematic and robust evidence that sheds new light onthe security implications of transnational forced migration. Our findings challenge theclaim that hosting refugees heightens the risk of “importing” terrorist attacks againstnationals of host countries, especially in developed countries. However, in these coun-tries refugees themselves are particularly prone to becoming the targets of retaliatoryterrorist attacks by natives, driven by fear. Dominant policy responses to the refugeecrisis that raise fears and suspicions are therefore not only ill-suited, but potentiallycounterproductive.

The Rohingya are considered one of the most oppressed ethnicities in the group, due to their losing their citizenship and being persecuted, and being victims of state-sponsored violence. This thesis aims to find the reasoning behind, why the Rohingya have been targeted and treated as a scapegoat within Myanmar. To do this, this research is conducting a historical analysis to find the historical reasons for the discourse the different Myanmar governments have used to discredit the Rohingya claims to their place in the Rakhine state. A comparative analysis with other historically oppressed ethnicities is also implemented to highlight the unique case of the Rohingya and to better understand the nature of how scapegoats form. In support of the academic material, the research is also utilizing a media analysis of state-sponsored newspapers to understand the discourse of the conflict. Finally, this variety of analytic methods is tied together with a theoretical framework consisting of the joint use of Post-colonialism, Social-Identity theory, and Scapegoat theory.

Desire is always produced by the imitation of the desire of other. Cassius' position and character has driven the present study which describes his desire to become the main rival in the political rivalry in Rome. The data are collected by heuristic reading of 773 dialogues in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Content analysis is applied to get the themes and contexts. The main discussion is to understand how mimetic desire theory performed by Cassius through the mimetic mechanism. The findings indicate that Julius Caesar becomes his model. Furthermore, there are ten ways of him to reach his goal through mimetic mechanism.

Summary When we think about the mimetic theory and its developments in recent scientific thought, we quickly associate this belonging to the intellectual corollary of René Girard. This author offered a new look at violence and the sacred, suggesting that we are guided by a mimetic mechanism of appropriation so competitive, contagious and disruptive that the first communities would have succumbed to the level of extinction, were it not for our fortuitous ability to channel collective violence. and direct it against a victim; a scapegoat. The great intuition of this author is that the collective violence inflicted and sentenced against a scapegoat constitutes the heart of the sacred. Not only that, but human cultures were only possible, paradoxically, thanks to this first homicide that appeased the violence of all against a single individual. Therefore, the word that designates the persecuted or murdered victim is, in Girardian terms, “scapegoat”. In view of this, it can be pointed out that the place of the victim (scapegoat) in the primacy of Liberation Theology is not unknown. Likewise, this communication intends to analyze how this theological branch understands this victimization process and to what extent Girard's scapegoat can chorus the victims pointed out and protected by Liberation Theology.

This article analyzes the honor court trial of Maks Szczesliwy, former head of the Lodz ghetto Provisioning Department and one of Chaim Rumkowski’s closest associates, accused of “crimes against humanity.” In order to determine whether Szczesliwy could be accepted as its member, the Jewish Community of Helsinki established a tribunal under rabbinical authority. The tribunal contacted Jewish institutions for assistance and advice in Sweden, Poland, Great Britain, and Israel, and ultimately took the case to the Rabbinic High Court of Israel. The author investigates how shifting attitudes among the transnational survivor community towards former members of Jewish councils and other alleged collaborators shaped the final outcome of the case. This article analyzes the honor court trial of Maks Szczęśliwy, former head of the Łódź ghetto Provisioning Department and one of Chaim Rumkowski’s closest associates, accused of “crimes against humanity.” In order to determine whether Szczęśliwy could be accepted as its member, the Jewish Community of Helsinki established a tribunal under rabbinical authority. The tribunal contacted Jewish institutions for assistance and advice in Sweden, Poland, Great Britain, and Israel, and ultimately took the case to the Rabbinic High Court of Israel. The author investigates how shifting attitudes among the transnational survivor community towards former members of Jewish councils and other alleged collaborators shaped the final outcome of the case.

In this paper we examine the discourse on political corruption, with a focus on accusations of corruption and the self-defence discourse of the accused person. For this purpose, we study the discourse of the corruption scandal related with the Greek ex-Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos in 2011, as presented in articles published in the newspaper I Kathimerini. We specifically discuss how the accused is presented in the newspaper, how the accused presents himself and rebuts accusations and the newspaper’s stance, including the recontextualization of his discourse. By using tools of corpus linguistics in combination with Critical Discourse Analysis notions, our analysis points to the discourse strategies used, the extended application of topoi (namely of burden, responsibility, the scapegoat, and reality/appearance) and the biased treatment of the accused’s discourse, which is not only underrepresented but also distorted and ironically treated, suggesting that traditional Press in the Greek context aligns with political parties and the powerful through an array of linguistic devices.

Dans les temps anciens, le bouc émissaire constitue l'un des exemples les plus anciens de la pratique du sacrifice, de l'accusation et du ciblage. Dans la politique moderne, le bouc émissaire devient une raison de perte de responsabilité dans les moments de crise, se transformant en une image de salut qui rend difficile la révélation de la vérité et la recherche de vrais responsables. Cet article vise à analyser comment le motif du bouc émissaire, qui est loin d'être un concept à mysticiser à l'époque moderne, s'est transformé en une stratégie hostile utilisée par des acteurs politiques, et aussi comment ce dernier est utilisé dans le discours politique dans le contexte des incendies de forêt. Les incendies de forêt en Turquie entre le 27 juillet et le 12 août 2021 sont considérés comme un moment de crise propice à la polarisation politique et à la production de boucs émissaires. Dans ce contexte, les nouvelles construites par le discours politique figurant dans les journaux Aydınlık, Sabah et Yeni Safak seront analysées selon la méthode d'analyse du discours politique dans le contexte de production de boucs émissaires et d'hostilité dans le domaine politique. L'étude conclut par le constat suivant : le discours de bouc émissaire en temps de crise constitue un terrain de légitimité pour des acteurs politiques à travers divers mécanismes discursifs., In ancient times, the concept of scapegoat is one of the oldest examples of the practice of sacrificing, accusing, and targeting. In the modern political sphere, the scapegoat turns into an image of salvation in times of crisis, becoming a cover for political loss of responsibility, making it difficult to reveal the truth and find the real responsible. This article aims to analyze how the scapegoat motif, which is far from being a concept to be mythicised in the modern age, has turned into an enemy strategy by political actors, and how it is used in political discourse in the context of forest fires. The forest fires in Turkey between 27 July and 12 August 2021 are considered a moment of suitable crisis for political polarization and scapegoat production. In this context, the news that is constructed with political discourse in Aydınlık, Sabah, and Yeni Safak newspapers will be analyzed with the method of political discourse analysis in the context of scapegoat production and hostility in the political sphere. The study ends with the finding that scapegoat discourse in time of crisis constitutes a ground of legitimacy by political actors through various discursive mechanisms., Antik çağda kurban etme, suçlama ve hedef gösterme pratiğinin en eski örneklerinden birisini günah keçisi (scapegoat) kavramı oluşturmaktadır. Modern politikada günah keçisi, kriz anlarında sorumluluk yitiminin paravanı haline gelerek, hakikatin açığa çıkmasını ve gerçek sorumluların bulunmasını güçleştiren bir kurtuluş imgesine dönüşmektedir. Bu makale, modern çağda mistisize edilecek bir kavram olmaktan uzaklaşan günah keçisi motifinin politik aktörler tarafından düşmanlaştırma stratejisine nasıl dönüştüğünü ve politik söylemdeki kullanımını orman yangınları özelinde analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Türkiye’de 27 Temmuz-12 Ağustos 2021 tarihleri arasında meydana gelen orman yangınları, politik kamplaşmaya ve günah keçisi üretimine elverişli bir kriz anı olarak değerlendirilmektedir. Bu çerçevede, Aydınlık, Sabah ve Yeni Şafak gazetelerinde yer alan politik söylemle inşa edilen haberler, günah keçisi üretimi ve politik alandaki düşmanlık bağlamında politik söylem analizi yöntemiyle incelenecektir. Çalışma, kriz anında günah keçisi söyleminin politik aktörler tarafından çeşitli söylemsel mekanizmalarla meşruluk zemini oluşturduğu bulgusuyla sona ermektedir.

The article is an attempt to read the new pandemic situation in the context of René Girard’s thought. Unlike some other philosophical comments on the crisis, the author refrains from delivering the general philosophical assessment of the whole gamut of events on political, economic, or biological levels. Instead, the purpose of the essay is to put some philosophical-cultural light on the singular, yet chilling phenomenon of extreme social reactions to medical staff in Poland. To fulfill this moderate promise, Girardian anthropological concepts are engaged. The analysis is supported by a historical-cultural description of the Greek institution of a pharmakos as a historical memory most apposite for intelligibility of the present. This opens up a wider context of the cultural meaning of medicine.

Purpose: Recent UNHCR figures show that a record 70.8 million refugees are forcibly displaced. Millions of refugees are trapped in protracted refugee situations, and have been so on average for 25 years; this compares with 17 years in 2003, and nine in 1991. The research addresses whether the existing international refugee law regime is capable of addressing this crisis, or whether the issue is that member states do not comply with the refugee regime Results: This research highlights the failure of European Union to respond to the refugee problems. The figures show that there are more refugees trapped in protracted situations than before and also that their plight takes longer to be resolved. Therefore, from the perspective of persons born in danger zones, one is more likely to be a refugee in 2019 than in 2014, yet less likely to find a durable solution. Methodology: The study adopted a doctrinal methodology by exploring legislation and directives to identify whether these laws can address refugee issues. Novelty/originality of this study: Forced migration has received negative media coverage and politicians, especially right-wing parties, have used migrants as a scapegoat. This paper identifies some of the myths of migration to demonstrate that, if given the opportunity, migrants can contribute positively to economic growth and integrate with local communities

In this article, I argue that Leviticus 16 and early Jewish Day of Atonement traditions have influenced the imagery of the sheep and the goats in Matt 25.31–46. The ritual shading that this judgement scene acquires in light of its use of Yom Kippur imagery fits well into Matthew's overarching interest in moral purity. The drama of moral impurity in the Gospel of Matthew concludes with the Son of Man's eschatological purgation of iniquity from the cosmos in a manner reminiscent of the yearly expulsion of moral impurity from Israel's temple by means of the scapegoat ritual. Building on the insights of scholars who have attempted to demonstrate Matthew's knowledge of Son of Man traditions attested in the Parables of Enoch, this article also contends that Azazel traditions contained in that same Enochic booklet have influenced the portrayal of the goats’ banishment in Matt 25.41, a conclusion that becomes more probable in light of Matthew's unique application of the Asael tradition attested in 1 En. 10.4 at the end of his Parable of the Wedding Feast (Matt 22.13).

The aim of this article is to present the actions of Ik-Tešub, a king of Šubria at the time of Esarhaddon’s invasion, and to explain them as ritual countermeasures. Unlike earlier interpretations, which focused on a scapegoat ritual, a simple substitute ritual or a symbolic act of surrender, my proposal is to interpret the behaviour of the Šubrian ruler as a substitute king ritual based not on Mesopotamian but Hittite magical traditions. Moreover, the shape of this particular ritual might indicate that Esarhaddon was seen not only as the powerful king and governor of Aššur but in fact also as the god of plague himself.

Concebendo a arte literária e a arte cinematográfica como expressão humana e espelho do ser social e político, o presente artigo tem o objetivo de analisar como a tradução cinematográfica de Rosa Berardo, André Louco (1990), dialoga com a novela homônima de Bernardo Élis (1978). Sobremaneira, nos conflitos miméticos responsáveis por disparar o mecanismo do bode expiatório girardiano. Trata-se de uma pesquisa com ênfase na tradução intersemiótica, de Julio Plaza (2003), verticalizada com uma análise das relações sociais, proposta por Girard (2004). Elucidando, assim, o processo de transmutação e composição do foco narrativo conduzido pela ótica de Berardo.

We continuously talk about autonomous technologies. But how can words qualifying technologies be the very same words chosen by Kant to define what is essentially human, i.e. being autonomous? The article focuses on a possible answer by reflecting upon both etymological and philosophical issues, as well as upon the case of autonomous vehicles. Most interestingly, on the one hand, we have the notion of (human) “autonomy”, meaning that there is a “law” that is “self-given”, and, on the other hand, we have the notion of (technological) “automation”, meaning that there is something “offhand” that is “self-given”. Yet, we are experiencing a kind of twofold shift: on the one hand, the shift from defining technologies in terms of automation to defining technologies in terms of autonomy and, on the other hand, the shift from defining humans in terms of autonomy to defining humans in terms of automation. From a philosophical perspective, the shift may mean that we are trying to escape precisely from what autonomy founds, i.e. individual responsibility of humans that, in the Western culture, have been defined for millennia as rational and moral decision-makers, even when their decisions have been the toughest. More precisely, the shift may mean that we are using technologies, and in particular emerging algorithmic technologies, as scapegoats that bear responsibility for us by making decisions for us. Moreover, if we consider the kind of emerging algorithmic technologies that increasingly surround us, starting from autonomous vehicles, then we may argue that we also seem to create a kind of technological divine that, by being always with us through its immanent omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence and inscrutability, can always be our technological scapegoat freeing us from the most unbearable burden of individual responsibility resulting from individual autonomy.

En esta investigación concluida, se estudiaron las interacciones sociales de los niños que nacen y viven en prisión, en compañía de sus madres recluidas, bajo el enfoque del interaccionismo simbólico y la teoría del estigma; el objetivo general fue analizar los procesos sociales que viven los niños que permanecen hasta los 5 años de edad al interior del Centro de Readaptación Social de Pachuca de Soto, Hidalgo, México, bajo el supuesto de que el estigma es heredado e institucional, y deriva en reacciones comportamentales consecuenciales. La investigación fue cualitativa, utilizando herramientas metodológicas del interaccionismo simbólico y la teoría fundamentada; el muestreo fue teórico; el escenario fue el CERESO de Pachuca, Hgo.; como instrumentos las entrevistas a profundidad y la observación participante; fueron 31 informantes; el análisis de la información fue categorial, utilizando el software Atlas.ti, y posteriormente, análisis y correlaciones con el cuerpo teórico. En esta presentación se exponen los resultados concernientes a una categoría psicológica: la carrera moral, la cual consiste en la interiorización del estigma a partir de las predisposiciones generadas por el entorno. Se utilizan las categorías de chivo expiatorio y la autoprofecía cumplida para analizar los efectos que tiene el estigma criminalizante en el futuro de los niños.

If one assumes, like Mayer Hacker, that a social minority is a group of people who, because of their physical or cultural characteristics, are not treated as equal to other groups in a given society, then it turns out that many groups meet these criteria. In the prison subculture they are met by „losers,” in the macro-social space – by all minority groups such as national, ethnic, racial minorities, but also women and some religious minorities. It is surprising that although these groups often have comparable numerical, physical, or intellectual strength to that of the mainstream group, they are unable to obtain equal treatment, respect, and all the privileges that this entails. This is probably due to a number of factors, including tradition, cultural capital, resources, and culturally established institutions promoting specific social groups. However, an equally important determinant is the own activity of individuals forming a minority group, and their ability to integrate and consolidate with their own group. Among others, the following contribute to this: lack of intra-group solidarity, orientation towards the dominant group, excessive guilt, contempt for one’s own group etc. The article deals with the barriers inherent in the minority groups themselves, which contribute significantly to the consolidation of their unfavorable status. The size and scale of these barriers contribute to the status that I call the loser syndrome. It is also important that the factors limiting the expansion of minority groups are similar in most minority groups. They are characterized by a certain universality.

This article addresses some convergences in Rene Girard and Anton LaVey’s understandings of Satan. Rene Girard understood Satan as the representation of both mimetic desire and the scapegoat mechanism, both of which have detrimental influences on human culture. In that sense, in continuation with Christian orthodoxy, Girard did not find any positive aspect in Satanism. By contrast, Anton LaVey had a more positive approach to Satan. LaVey was an unsophisticated Nietzschean, who nevertheless understood well that the German philosopher’s views were not dissimilar to what Satan represents. Rene Girard’s understanding of who (or what) Satan is, makes this clearer.

If Jesus Christ is the Messiah, redemption took place since the event of the Passion and, therefore, the reproduction of mimetic violence is not justified in all of Christendom. But if, in fact, Christianity is liberating, why does the Christian universe persist in violence far beyond the limits of the sacrificial ritual performed in various non-secularized societies? What is the reason for the reassertion of stereotypes - and the creation of new stereotypes - and, with that, the spread of prejudice, an environment in which sacrifice gives way to increasingly expanded revenge, which flows towards generalization? In teleological language, why, despite salvation by Jesus Christ, does evil remain in the world? The French thinker René Girard sheds light on this theme. Based on his work, and referenced by the issues announced here, this article examines the scapegoat scheme and Girard's interpretation of evil associated with violence, as well as salvation, linked to the historical event of Christ's death. Se Jesus Cristo é o Messias, a redenção ocorreu desde o evento da Paixão e, por isso, não se justifica, em toda a cristandade, a reprodução da violência mimética. Mas se, de fato, o cristianismo é libertador, porque o universo cristão persiste na violência, aliás, para muito além dos limites do próprio ritual sacrificial realizado em diversas sociedades não secularizadas? Qual é a razão da reafirmação dos estereótipos – e da criação de novos estereótipos - e, com isso, da disseminação do preconceito, ambiente no qual o sacrifício cede espaço para a vingança cada vez mais ampliada, que aflui para a generalização? Em linguagem teleológica, por que, apesar da salvação por Jesus Cristo, o mal permanece no mundo? O pensador francês René Girard traz luzes acerca desta temática. A partir de sua obra, e referenciado pelas questões aqui anunciadas, o presente artigo perscruta o esquema do bode expiatório e a interpretação girardiana acerca do mal associado à violência, bem como da salvação, vinculada ao evento histórico da morte de Cristo. &nbsp

Este artigo objetiva abordar a presença do desejo mimético e do bode expiatório nas tragédias Júlio César e Hamlet, de William Shakespeare, tendo como base as contribuições teóricas de René Girard (2010). A partir da obra A violência e o sagrado, o teórico francês verifica, através de uma visão antropológica dos rituais primitivos, os efeitos disruptivos do desejo mimético, apontando a presença de um mecanismo expiatório como responsável pela resolução dos conflitos. A fim de compreender como a observação antropológica de Girard é articulada à matéria teatral de Shakespeare, este trabalho serve-se das considerações de Aristóteles (1997) sobre a tragédia na Poética e a divisão dos modos ficcionais de Northrop Frye (2013) na Anatomia da crítica. Nota-se nas duas peças que a resolução dos conflitos entre as personagens pelo bode expiatório possibilita a purgação das rivalidades no contexto da peça e proporciona a catarse da plateia. Abstract This article aims to approach the presence of mimetic desire and scapegoat in the tragedies Julius Caesar and Hamlet by William Shakespeare, it is based on René Girard’s (2010) theoretical contributions. From the work A violência e o sagrado, the French theorist verifies, through an anthropological point of view about the primitive rituals, disruptive effects of the mimetic desire, he points out the presence of a scapegoat as responsible for resolution of conflicts. In order to comprehend how Girard’s anthropological observation is articulated with Shakespeare’s theatrical material, this work uses Aristotle’s (1997) considerations about tragedy in the Poética and the Northrop Frye’s (2013) division of fictional modes in Anatomia da crítica. It is possible to note that the resolutions of conflicts among the characters, through a scapegoat, provides purgation of rivalries in the context of the play and the audience’s catharsis.

İnsan hayatı onu yaşayanın elinde olan, sadece kendi seçimlerinden oluşan ve kendi kararlarının, iradesinin yön verdiği bir deneyimler bütünü değildir. Havsalamızın almadığı en eski zamanlardan getirilen kolektif bilinç kırıntıları bile bizdeki bu hissi kuvvetlendirir. Öncellerini, sınırlarını bilmediğimiz ama yoğun bir şekilde maruz kaldığımız, ölümlü olduğumuzun idrakine vardıktan hemen sonra gelen en temel trajedilerimizden biridir. Emin Alper’in yönetmenliğini ve senaristliğini yaptığı, 2019 yılı yapımı “Kız Kardeşler” filmi René Girard’ın “kurban” ve “günah keçisi” kavramları ışığında analiz edilebilecek önemli bir corpus, açık yapıttır. Film bir tragedyanın tüm özelliklerini haizdir. Bu çalışma, Alper’in filmini Girard’ın kurban kuramı etrafında okumayı amaçlar. The life is not a set of experiences in the hands of the people who live it, consisting only of their choices and directed by their own decisions and will. Even the crumbs of collective counciousness brought from the past, which our mind didn’t receive, strengthen this feeling in us. It is one of our most fundamental tragedies, which we do not know about its predecessors and boundaries, but to which we are intensely exposed and that comes right after we realize that we are mortal. The "Sisters" film, directed and scripted by Emin Alper in 2019, is an important corpus, open work that can be analyzed in the light of René Girard's concepts of "victim" and "scapegoat". The film has all the characteristics of a tragedy. This study aims to read the film around Girard's theory. Publisher's Version

This work focuses on different roles individuals might adopt in their family of origin: hero, scapegoat, lost child, mascot, caretaker, and mastermind. It was explored whether family dysfunction in the family of origin makes it more likely that individuals will take on certain roles, in particular those of “scapegoat” and “lost child.” Further, it was tested whether the problematic roles of scapegoat and lost child are linked to greater depressive symptoms later on during adulthood. Support for these predictions was found in two correlational survey studies of young and older adults retrospectively reporting the roles they assumed in their family of origin ( N = 176 and 366, respectively). Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for family therapy.

Originally funded by the US Department of Defense in 2009, Theater of War Productions’ first project, Theater of War, performs dramatic readings of Ajax at military bases, hospitals, and academic institutions throughout the United States. Developed by Bryan Doerries, Theater of War brings awareness to the epidemic of suicide and other forms of violence committed by American military service members in the wake of the United States’ so-called ‘war on terror’. But like Ajax, American military personnel typically turn to violence only after being betrayed by the institutions that they served. This article follows how Ajax’s more modern manifestation disrupts the tragic protagonist’s status as a sacrificial victim whose death precipitates tragedy’s cathartic effect, and challenges what René Girard calls the ‘scapegoat mechanism’ and its socio-political function. It argues that Ajax’s appearance as a cathartic figure in American society provokes spectators and artists to reckon with the conditions that can cause military personnel to act violently, and inspires protests against broader hegemonic socio-political structures and the military culture that sustains them. Matthew Roberts is Assistant Professor and Librarian for Comparative and World Literature, English, and Drama at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Fil: Marino, Andrea Ivana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagonico. Instituto Patagonico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; Argentina

This paper proposes to draw on René Girard’s “mimetic theory” to understand the phenomenon of violence and its escalation to extremes, from a non-instrumental perspective. This theory locates the origin of violence in the mimetic nature of acquisitive desires and it reveals, as its main historical antidote, the sacrifice of scapegoats. Accordingly, it suggests that violence and its various manifestations are a prime driving force in human history. Mainly, this paper addresses the possibility of dismantling this violence through Girard’s reading of the Apocalypse as the face of the current crisis and a call for hope. Both strands originate from the same episode: Christian Revelation, after dismantling the sacrificial apparatus and leaving men without sacred protection, presented the innocent victim par excellence —Christ— as the only role model able to stop the machinery of death.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s March 22, 2016 address to the Cuban people in Havana, Cuba aimed at restoring communal relations between Cuba and the United States by providing a vision of a hopeful ...

The paper engages with the concepts of scapegoat ecology and heroisation to explore social media responses to Greta Thunberg’s activism. We sought to understand the broad sentiment towards her anti...

Rene Girard, influential theorist of sacrifice and victimage, casts Oedipus as a scapegoat, who absorbs the ‘free-floating’ guilt that has plagued Thebes. But is he? Girard’s definitions of the sca...

Behind the cruel mockery of Pilate’s auxiliary troops (Matt 27:27–31), Matthew portrays the royal inauguration of the true cosmic lord. But what has often been missed is that this inauguration also entails Jesus’s cultic elimination as the victim in a performance reminiscent of ancient curse-transmission rituals. Matthew transforms and assimilates the scene to the most famous elimination rite in his Jewish context, the Yom Kippur scapegoat ritual. Jesus becomes a king who himself bears and carries away the moral impurities of the denizens of his own kingdom as the typological fulfillment of the scapegoat of Leviticus 16.

Several studies have focused on scapegoating in the organizational context. However, most have tended to enclose the protagonists in predefined roles: scapegoats are relatively passive, their colleagues persecute them, and management quickly join the persecutors. According to this scenario, the outcome ends irrevocably with the scapegoat’s isolation. The literatures in related fields have nevertheless suggested other modes of regulation, and we might question whether our representation of the organizational scapegoating process, from passive actors to automatic outcome, offers a full account of this complex phenomenon as it unfolds and is lived. We in fact do not know how organizational actors regulate the scapegoating process, interfering with and influencing its trajectory and outcome. In this article, we conceptualize this complex process by examining the active and regulating roles of its protagonists and how they hinder or even avert the violence of scapegoating. In an exploratory and qualitative study of seven cases of scapegoating in a large French company, we describe the actions of the scapegoats (combating the persecution, struggling against stigma, avoidance, and departure) and management (support for persecutors, support for the scapegoat, and ambivalent support). The articulation of the protagonists’ actions ultimately leads to four types of resolution for the scapegoat: isolation, expulsion, cohabitation, and assimilation. Two modes of regulation emerge: the first mode strengthens and catalyzes the scapegoating process, whereas the second mode prevents and channels it. By detailing the actors’ actions and their capacities to co-regulate the scapegoating process, this study moves beyond a deterministic vision of scapegoating and underlines the role of its protagonists. A research agenda is discussed.

In many cases, analyses of fiscal stabilisation are characterised by errors and omissions. This study addresses these issues. In addition to the operation of automatic stabilisers and the stabilising effect of the EU budget, we examine whether or not a stabilisation policy based on a significant change in the budget deficit can be sustainable and successful. While the economic growth rate is affected by the impulse from the changes in the deficit, the level of economic performance is affected by the deficit. However, the accumulated debt resulting from the persistent deficit is growing faster than the impact on GDP, and thus the debt ratio could start rising sharply in the foreseeable future. We show that a continuous increase in demand may be self-financing only in the unlikely event that the value of the medium-term fiscal multiplier closely approximated 3, i.e. the impact in real terms of a nominal impulse would permanently triple. A lasting, sizeable general demand increase is therefore not a panacea; however, the literature suggests that its alternatives, i.e. structural reform and targeted measures, are more appropriate and less costly for achieving higher trends of GDP growth. Similar results were obtained also in simulations based on the Hungarian experience of targeted measures.

Language as a form of social practice is an essential tool to wield power and dominate the weak. What appears to be a simple narration of an anecdote may be a perpetuation of certain perspectives and a disguised manipulation of the reader. About a Burning Girl by Daniyal Mueenuddin is a text which depicts a married Pakistani woman of lower social strata struggling not just for her acceptance but also for her life. Socially as well as economically subjugated, she is a convenient scapegoat and the softest of the targets in a male dominated patriarchal society. To highlight the destruction/de-structuring of female identity through language in the text, in relation to Hodge and Kress’s (1993) analytical model, this study aims to analyze the selected text from the Marxist feminist perspective, which sees women as the exploited working class. Analysis of the representative syntagms in the selected text shows that the female subject, as perceived by the male author, is represented as a de-structured, voiceless, dead character. The study thus exposes the underlying ideology of the text and its social implication as discourse with respect to women being represented as weak, speechless objects of male manipulation in Pakistani literature.

Genesis claims that ancient languages were divinely diversified as the linguistic origin. In consistence, this article presents systematic evidence for biblical etymology related to all major body parts and organs. For instance, heart is to heat, brain is to burn, kidney is to kindle burnt offering, and muscle is to slice to the multiple. Sandal is sacred land, scared is sacred scarf, and tragedy is to tear garment. Both objective and abstract words exhibit biblical match, such as random and ransom as escaping scapegoat randomly chosen. Biblical etymology of morals 德, love 愛, real真, eternity 永, memory, necessity 必, secret 秘, accident, pardon 恕 and mister is also presented. Novel interpretation in biblical etymology is also presented for several affixes such as 辰, 者, per, and m/l+vowel+n. In definitive etymology, numerous words such as generation, espionage, pregnancy and agriculture are presented to bilingually match bible, especially the scripture of Moses, reflecting divine creation.

Despite the growing body of research on authoritarian regimes, few studies address the issues of their legitimization through exaggerating external threats and constructing enemy images. Targeting the gap in the literature, this article explores the discursive strategies of ‘evilization’ and demonization of the ‘other’, with a focus on their implications for legitimating and sustaining the authoritarian regimes in post-Soviet space. Examining the cases of Russia and Azerbaijan, the qualitative, comparative analysis presented in this article uncovers a series of essential similarities between the regimes’ legitimization strategies. Findings suggest that there has been a strong tendency in both Russian and Azerbaijani discourses to ‘externalize’ major problems facing the countries and scapegoat ‘evil forces’ as their main causes. Frequent appeals to the external threats have been accompanied by a heightened emphasis on the necessity of strong presidential power, with ‘strongmen’ that are capable of withstanding the enemies’ conspiracies. Remarkably, one of the core similarities between the two regimes is their unstoppable drive towards monarchical presidencies.

The article argues that contemporary phenomena such as cancel culture, presentism, and deplatforming enhance the escalation of violence and mimetic desire. Together with the dimension of ICT, and the acceleration of speed that comes with it, these phenomena tend to organise reality in such a way that carefully constructed arguments are wiped out beforehand. Moreover, the overall dominance of increased velocity, lack of deep attention, and decrease of the dominance of print culture, are seriously threatening the craft of slow and close reading. In turn, this decline actually changes the culture of the humanities fundamentally, since the younger generations of poor readers engage in various activities of cleansing. In addition, arguments are no longer neither carefully constructed nor carefully scrutinised. In the vein of cancel culture, the senders of certain arguments should rather be unplugged (deplatformed). History should be edited according to a set of contemporary moral principles, which even though they seem to be ethically sound, will actually only contribute to escalating violence. By means of a close reading of Christina Rossetti’s “In an Artist’s Studio,” the article attempts to illustrate that the only way out of the destructive dialectics of mimetic desire is through the Christian concepts of agape and kenosis.

Focusing the anger of the community on a single individual the scapegoat makes it possible to stabilise it on new terms and to emerge from the chaos into which it falls in the pandemic. Instead of scapegoating, the focus should be on solving the problem itself with, for example, mass vaccination against Covid-19. The media play a vital role in promoting appropriate attitudes and behaviour during the pandemic. The aim of the article is an analysis primarily aimed at demonstrating the relationship between fears (health, social and economical) and assessments of COVID-19 vaccination and media information, based on research of the Eurobarometer, carried out in all member countries of the EU in the period from the 20th of March 2020 to the 30th of June 2021. Three hypotheses were tested regarding EU inhabitants' assessments and fears of vaccination and the media information that differentiates between vaccination enthusiasts, realists and sceptics. Applied were a quantitative analysis of the content of reports, a qualitative analysis of the contents, comparative and analytical descriptive methods. Poprzez skupienie swojego gniewu na jednej osobie lokalna społeczność uzyskuje możliwość odzyskania równowagi w nowych okolicznościach i wyjścia z pandemicznego chaosu. Zamiast poszukiwać kozła ofiarnego, należy skupić się na rozwiązaniu samego problemu, na przykład na masowym szczepieniu przeciwko COVID-19. Środki społecznego przekazu odgrywają kluczową rolę w promowaniu właściwych postaw i zachowań w trakcie pandemii. Artykuł ma na celu przeprowadzenie analizy, przede wszystkim, aby wykazać związek między obawami (w sferze zdrowia, spraw społecznych i gospodarczych) i oceną szczepień przeciwko COVID-19 a informacjami podawanymi przez media, bazując na badaniach Eurobarometru prowadzonych we wszystkich krajach członkowskich UE w okresie od 20 maja 2020 do 30 czerwca 2021. Przetestowano trzy hipotezy dotyczące ocen i obaw związanych ze szczepieniami oraz doniesienia medialne, które dzielą społeczeństwo entuzjastów, realistów i sceptyków szczepień. Zastosowano analizę ilościową i jakościową treści raportów oraz metody porównawcze i analityczno-deskryptywne.