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Book Synopsis
For thousands of years, political leaders have unified communities by aligning them against common enemies. However, today more than ever, the search for "common" enemies results in anything but unanimity. Scapegoats like Saddam Hussein, for example, led to a stark polarisation in the United States. Renowned neuropsychiatrist and psychologist Jean-Michel Oughourlian proposes that the only authentic enemy is the one responsible for both everyday frustrations and global dangers, such as climate change - ourselves.

Oughourlian, who pioneered an "interdividual" psychology with Rene Girard, reveals how all people are bound together in a dynamic, contingent process of imitation, and shows that the same patterns of irrational mimetic desire that bring individuals together and push them apart also explain the behaviour of nations.

Psychopolitics: Conversations with Trevor Cribben

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    A Paperback / softback by Jean-Michel Oughourlian, Trevor Cribben Merrill, Rene Girard

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      Book details

      Publisher Michigan State University Press
      Published 30 October 2012
      ISBN-13 9781611860535
      978-1611860535
      ISBN-10 1611860539

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      For thousands of years, political leaders have unified communities by aligning them against common enemies. However, today more than ever, the search for "common" enemies results in anything but unanimity. Scapegoats like Saddam Hussein, for example, led to a stark polarisation in the United States. Renowned neuropsychiatrist and psychologist Jean-Michel Oughourlian proposes that the only authentic enemy is the one responsible for both everyday frustrations and global dangers, such as climate change - ourselves.

      Oughourlian, who pioneered an "interdividual" psychology with Rene Girard, reveals how all people are bound together in a dynamic, contingent process of imitation, and shows that the same patterns of irrational mimetic desire that bring individuals together and push them apart also explain the behaviour of nations.

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