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Many utopian visions operate by scapegoating an Otherness. They blame an 'enemy' for an unbearable, dystopian current reality, holding the 'enemy' responsible for it or for obstructing the passage to a desired, new reality. Then they exclude (or even promise the elimination of) this 'enemy'. Despite the renewed interest in utopias, such utopian frames remain theoretically neglected or, worse, they are considered typical of the logical structure of utopianism. This paper aims to show that this issue merits a different political-philosophical attention. We begin with operations of utopian predicates in the relevant scholarship and distinguish them from the operations of the term 'incriminatory' that we are introducing. We term incriminatory the kind of utopian frame whose future-oriented, idealized and desired image is constructed in and through an incriminated 'Other'. We indicate the re-conceptualizing merits of this new term and then we discuss the affirmative utopianism that does not incriminate a specific Other. Our main argument, which we deploy contra Yannis Stavrakakis's position, is that utopias are not unavoidably or inherently incriminatory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay provides a take, by a historian, on the 2022 Ukraine war. It draws attention to the fact that, over the past 20 years, terms such as "game-changer" or "turning point" have been frequently employed to characterize important junctures. However, 2022 is qualitatively different from all of these, as it represents the antithesis to 1989 and marks the end of an entire era. From the leadership perspective, one immediate effect of a turning point is the reckoning with the past that it entails. It forces a rethink on past behavior. And this collective cognitive rewiring triggers the questioning of the legacy of leaders associated with the now discredited course of action. Taking the example of the crisis of conscience currently underway in Germany, the essay cautions against scapegoating that relies on retrospective selection bias; suggesting instead, that the focus of attention should be shifted to the collective cognitive blinders that prevented the numerous Cassandras, who understood the genuine nature of Putinist aggression, from being listened to. The essay then turns its attention to the proliferation of historical analogies and comparisons, arguing that this tells us less about the event and more about the fact that our compasses have gone haywire. As corollaries of our profound disarray, they even prevent us from gaining a better understanding of the phenomenon. This is addressed in the final part, which includes reflections on Putin as a leader, Putinist followership, as well as the challenges Western leaders are likely to face in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group analysts seldom write about the risk of harming their patients. Yet it is now widely recognized that all psychotherapies come with a small risk of harm and this risk has remained since it was first identified in the 1970s. In the wider group psychotherapy literature, risk of harm has been linked to the poor management of conflict and scapegoating, the misuse of interpretation, narcissistic leadership and unsuitability or lack of preparation of patients. Group analytic writers have examined each of these areas to varying degrees but not from the perspective of harm to the patient. This article highlights this 'blind spot' within the profession and signals the need for action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scapegoating of 'angry black women' achieves the paradoxical feat of ascribing power while simultaneously taking it away. This article aims to highlight how women of colour may be scapegoated as a result of intersecting, deep-rooted, and malignant forces operating within the (un)conscious, with a particular focus on racism. A lack of relevant literature is identified so to better understand the causation and effects of this phenomenon, group analytic concepts are cross-pollinated with black feminist, white feminist, and black political theory. It is suggested that conductors could do more to manage destructive forces in groups and so three anti-racist approaches are proposed. Concluding thoughts note that if our groups are permeated by the social, the same may be said of our theoretical framework. It is hoped that by consulting other specialist disciplines and integrating their knowledge into group analytic training and professional practice, our aims of being more inclusive, accessible, and diverse become ever-more attainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People are increasingly exposed to environmental threat in the form of "slow-scale" disaster, such as the water contamination at Flint, Michigan. Little is known about the role of place attachment in determining responses to such threats. The present research tests a comprehensive model linking place attachment style to patterns of environmental threat response. Two highly powered surveys (total N = 603) test this model in the context of a water contamination scenario. Across both studies, we find that a more communal and traditionalist place inherited style predicts defensive denial of the threat and compensatory identification with spiritual powers, while a more agentic and cosmopolitan place discovered style predicts identification with responsible institutions and collective action motivation. Place relativity style —characterized by high mobility and lack of attachment—predicts scapegoating of responsible institutions, especially when the threat occurs in a location other than one's neighborhood (Study 2). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this project, I analyze news coverage of the #MeToo movement to categorize how blame is assigned and what corrective actions are prescribed for the pervasive problem of sexual violence. Although it is tempting to scapegoat individuals, this practice often limits the scope of sexual violence to isolated cases. Transcendence is an alternative route to redemption that attributes blame to structural and societal forces. However, transcendence may erase intersectional differences and silence voices by overshadowing individual stories. I argue that the risks in focusing exclusively on either scapegoating or transcendence can be mediated through the lens of a rhetorical constellation. This approach calls for media and news coverage of #MeToo to attend to the specific circumstances of individual cases and to frame those unique people, voices, and stories as part of a series of interactions with other instances of sexual violence that constitute a call for societal change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the metaphor of the scapegoat by offering a case study taken from the history of France at the turn of the 20th-century. The case is presented of a French army officer, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, whose wrongful conviction for treason created an international sensation and tore French society apart.The author outlines the general features of the scapegoating dynamic and applies them to the Dreyfus case. He sets out the flow of events from Dreyfus’s first trial through to the official declaration of his innocence a century after his conviction, illustrating the tenacity of the scapegoating dynamic when an entire nation is caught up in the process. The view is put forward that it was the dramatic intervention by the novelist Emile Zola in the Dreyfus case which arrested the scapegoating process. The author asks what the implications of this might be for group analysis.At the centre of the Dreyfus case was the fact of his Jewishness. The author depicts anti-Semitism as a deeply rooted set of assumptions based on myths about the Jews. He touches on the origins of these myths in early monotheistic theology and in the political ideology of the Far Left and the Far Right. An explanation is offered for the persistence of these myths in our culture, which may extend to our understanding of myths surrounding other peoples and societies. The author concludes with some reflections on the recurring nature of the scapegoat phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most family-system research on triangulation processes has been undertaken in the West, with little known about this family dynamic in the East. The present cross-sectional study analysed 1,073 Chinese 3rd-12th-graders' self-reported exposure to three kinds of triangulation--cross-generation coalition, scapegoating, and parentification--in relation to family and child factors and with respect to children's school and social adjustment. Age-related analyses generally indicated that older children were less frequently exposed to all three dimensions of triangulation than younger ones. Children residing with only their parents experienced more scapegoating than those living in extended families; and boys were exposed to cross-generation coalition and scapegoating more than were girls. Higher levels of coalition and scapegoating exposure were related to poorer school adjustment and greater depression of children. Higher levels of parentification exposure, however, were associated with better school adjustment and social functioning. Findings are discussed in terms of theory and research on parent-child triangulation and cultural differences between East and West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the use of financial mechanisms to impose controls while facilitating blame avoidance by public office-holders. A qualitative historical examination is used to examine legislation designed to prevent Radio Caroline, a pirate radio station, from broadcasting into Britain in the 1960s. Radio Caroline made a mockery of the British Government’s power to manage radio through a monopolist, the British Broadcasting Corporation. In addition, Radio Caroline played the type of rock music the British Government sought to suppress because it represented the undesirable side of youth culture. Hence, inter-generational conflict was connected to the British Government’s attitude towards Radio Caroline. This research examines the suppression of Radio Caroline through the Marine & Broadcasting (Offences) Act (UK) 1967 and the legislative scapegoating of Radio Caroline by targeting its revenue-earning potential. It demonstrates the use of financial control mechanisms to mask the strategies of governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research analyses the role of accounting in British disablement pensions awarded to men who sustained shell shock during their Army service in the First World War. In this context, “accounting” refers to the classification of medical conditions when determining pension eligibility and awards. Pension classifications were prejudiced towards men with physical disabilities and against men with shell shock. Accounting classification’s ability to make a medical condition invisible is central to this research. The invisibility of shell shock as a medical condition in the pension classification system led to financial discrimination against men with shell shock. The immorality of this discrimination was hidden by a system of accounting classification that distanced decision-makers from the ramifications of their decisions. In addition, the Minister of Pensions adopted blame avoidance techniques to protect his Ministry and the British government from criticism occasioned by the discriminatory treatment of men with shell shock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the economic and financial crisis that has ensnared Europe from the late 2000s has been instrumental in reshaping employment and social relations in a detrimental way for the majority of the European people. It argues that the crisis has exacerbated the socio-economic position of most Roma people, immigrants as well as of other vulnerable groups. This development is approached here as an outcome of the widening structural inequalities that underpin the crisis within an increasingly neoliberalised Europe. Through recent policy developments and public discourses from a number of European countries I show how rising inequalities nurture racialised social tensions. My account draws on classic and contemporary theoretical propositions that have been propounded about the nature of capitalism, its contemporary re-articulation as well as its ramification for the future of Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the Marin Foundation has gained increasing attention as a Christian group attempting to reconcile with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual (LGBT) community. As one means of fostering reconciliation, the “I’m Sorry” campaign within the Marin Foundation encourages individuals to post online video confessionals, stating what they are sorry for and how they intend to make things better for the LGBT community. This study examines these online video confessionals as a unique site of identity negotiation for Christian individuals attempting to reconcile with the LGBT community. Rhetorical analysis of the videos revealed that the individuals drew from a specific repertoire of apology and suggestions for future action, which fell in line with Kenneth Burke’s notion of scapegoating and mortification. As a result, the “story of self” articulated by the individuals failed to be coherent with both the stated goals of the foundation and the main tenets of Evangelical Christian identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on Girard’s general account of sacrificial violence to elucidate the race-thinking that structures contemporary discourses on security in Western security states, particularly in Canada and the United States. With attention to the relation between collective group formation (as we see, for example, in resurgent nationalisms of the era of “terror”) and to the structures and processes of inclusion/exclusion that define them, my discussion unfolds Girard’s figure and analysis of “the scapegoat” within and against contemporary theories of racial violence and group-based persecution. It profiles the specter of race in the assemblages of fear that imbue security discourse, to consider how security “works” to foster and consolidate communities against its “foreign” others, in ways that produce the very race distinctions that they are conditioned on. In doing so, it will elucidate how Girard’s work on sacrificial violence is productive for critically elucidating the affective politics of security discourse, including those that organize and inform the biopolitical formations of race distinctions and racial hierarchy in contemporary security states. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Focusing upon scapegoating in post-crash Ireland, this article considers a pervasive political process that is protective of powerful interests and the status quo following the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Drawing from group conflict theory and framing analysis as part of a broader critical realist take on society, we consider how blame has been placed on myriad targets, ranging from a collective ‘we who went a bit mad with borrowing’ to more specific groups such as public sector workers, the unemployed, single mothers and immigrants. In conclusion, we underscore the need for sociology to assert its relevance by challenging such processes and defend civil society in a capitalist world-system that is in structural crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Decadence, moral decay and national disintegration are obsessively recurrent themes in the narratives of the French radical right. This article explores the topos of decadence in the Front National’s ideology through a content analysis of speeches and campaign material ranging from the 1980s until 2012. Beginning with an interpretation of decadence based on René Girard’s discussion of persecution-legitimising texts, the article argues that the Front National’s discourse on decadence revolves around the idea of a crisis of differences and an acceleration of exchanges presented as unnatural. This point is developed in relation to the role of sexuality in the party’s profile and to the logics of historical development and political agency inherent to the Front National’s understanding of decadence. Decadence, I argue, is indissociable from indifferentiation – the fear of seeing the disappearance of differences conceived as fundamental for the preservation of national order. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper uses psychoanalytic ideas to develop a theory of organizational miasma, a concept that describes a contagious state of pollution – material, psychological and spiritual – that afflicts all who work in certain organizations that undergo sudden and traumatic transformations. Miasma is offered not as another organizational metaphor, a prism through which to view particular organizations. Instead, I delineate the fundamental psychodynamics of organizational miasma as a theoretical concept that accounts for and explains numerous processes in these organizations. These include a paralysis of resistance, an experience of pollution and uncleanliness, and feelings of disgust, worthlessness and corruption. Miasma may occur in organizations that undergo a sudden transformation involving the discarding and loss of many of their valued members through downsizing or retrenchment, without either separation rituals or psychological mourning. The ‘old’ organization is frequently presented as corrupt, indulgent and inefficient, contrasted to the ‘new’ organization that is entrepreneurial, dynamic and flexible. Yet, for many surviving members, the new organization is tainted by the presence of ‘murderers’, i.e. managers who have initiated a series of dismissals, and ‘corpses’, i.e. employees who have been dismissed or are about to be dismissed and ‘disappear’, once alive, now discarded. Miasma is seen as the result of a failed separation rite, one that instead of honouring loss, finitude and discontinuity in today’s organizations seeks to obliterate and repress it. In this sense, miasma represents a contemporary version of tragedy where attempts to offer cleansing end up by reinforcing it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this commentary, I explore affirmative responses to the question of whether the notion of sacrifice illuminates the nature of punitive acts such as executions and lynchings. In the end, however, I maintain that the notion of sacrifice is incompatible with such efforts and may serve more to obscure than to illuminate. Not only are key aspects of sacrifice overlooked in such analyses, but attention is diverted from the specific punitive violence of law. Finally, I propose that, when separated from its sacrificial framework, René Girard’s figure of the scapegoat may be helpful to understanding this punitive violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite considerable scholarship regarding the degree to which the international use of force generates popular rallies, no work has addressed the possibility that leaders’ managerial philosophies and psychological predispositions systematically influence their assessments of whether or not diversion “works”. In this article, we test hypotheses—conceived through direct reference to work in political psychology—which suggest that the degree to which presidents are innately concerned with the maintenance of the American “in-group” is an important predictor of whether they scapegoat international “out-groups” and, by extension, whether they choose strategies of diversionary foreign conflict or more cordial foreign engagement when facing domestic problems. Several analyses of American foreign policy behavior for the period 1953–2000 produce findings that clearly are at odds with these hypotheses, in that in-group biased presidents are actually less likely to use force and more likely to attend superpower summits when faced with a poor economy. We believe that these unexpected findings have serious implications for both the psychological study of international conflict and the plausibility of the “traditional” diversionary hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many months during the summer and fall of 1998, the USA was deluged by information about the sexual exploits of President Clinton, Monica Lewinsky, and their legal battles with Ken Starr. Voyeurism was stimulated not only in the USA but around the world. Inevitably, the combination of use and abuse of power combined with sexuality crossed into the treatment room. A clinical example will illustrate the impact of these events on the members of a long-term group. The members assume emotional positions similar to the main political participants, and in the process reexamine their fears of exposure, sexual guilt and fundamental self-doubts. The discussion will offer ideas about the meaning of this replay of previously worked themes in light of transference and countertransference considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aggressive and disruptive behaviour by children is a perennial problem for carers and the child care services. The problem runs deep since it touches on wider questions about human destructiveness. S. H. Foulkes held an optimistic view about the natural capacity of a therapy group to contain and transform destructive impulses. Acute practical problems arise, however, when a children's group gets caught up with anxiety and aggression. Adults under stress will tend to resort to `good/bad' splitting and the scapegoating of individuals can occur. A group is described where these difficulties were developing. When co therapists supported each other sufficiently the group weathered the storm of an individual's unmet emotional need. Work on the disruption of the group enabled all to reach a better stage of integration of their destructive impulses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]