TWO-CATEGORY SYSTEM OF HUMAN RELATIONS --- DEHUMANIZATION

TWO-CATEGORY SYSTEM OF HUMAN RELATIONS Superior versus inferior: There are, and have always been, people who consider themselves superior to others. * PERCEPTION*

TWO-CATEGORY SYSTEM Examples: Nazis Jews Hutus Tutsis Chinese Tibetans Whites Blacks

Brainstorm other examples with a partner Brainstorm other examples with a partner. There are endless examples of this, so really think this through and come up with as many ideas as you can. We must all agree not to be offended by the ideas others may come up with today. The idea is to identify incidents of this type of thinking in order to better understand it.

Dehumanization line – What is it? Why is it significant?

Dehumanization is a psychological process whereby “opponents” view each other as less than human and thus not deserving of moral consideration. -- Leads to intense hatred and alienation.

Dehumanization We will see the concept of dehumanization throughout several of the novels we read this year. The Things They Carried*** Slaughterhouse-Five*** Of Mice and Men To Kill a Mockingbird Night

Dehumanization One group denies the humanity of another group, and makes the victim group seem subhuman. Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder. Der Stürmer Nazi Newspaper: “The Blood Flows; The Jew Grins” Kangura Newspaper, Rwanda: “The Solution for Tutsi Cockroaches” . 8

Dehumanization From a Nazi SS Propaganda Pamphlet: Caption: Does the same soul dwell in these bodies? 9

Dehumanization Hate propaganda in speeches, print and on hate radios vilify the victim group. Members of the victim group are described as animals, vermin, and diseases. Hate radio, Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines, during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, broadcast anti-Tutsi messages like “kill the cockroaches” and “If this disease is not treated immediately, it will destroy all the Hutu.” Dehumanization invokes superiority of one group and inferiority of the “other.” Dehumanization justifies murder by calling it “ethnic cleansing,” or “purification.” Such euphemisms hide the horror of mass murder. 10

TPS What are some ways we’ve seen dehumanization in our summer reading novels? What could help combat dehumanization?

Dehumanization & Boundary Maintenance Sociological Terms

“Boundary Maintenance” Boundary Maintenance: The ways in which societies maintain distinctions between themselves and others. Many have suggested that, by studying the ways in which a society attempts to define its inherently ambiguous—and hence potentially dangerous—peripheral areas, it is possible to obtain a better understanding of what constitutes its key cultural values.

Four Stages of “Boundary Maintenance” Prejudice:

Four Stages of “Boundary Maintenance” Prejudice: An adverse judgment or opinion formed without knowledge or examination of the facts (generalization).

Four Stages of “Boundary Maintenance” II. Discrimination:

Four Stages of “Boundary Maintenance” II. Discrimination: Taking action based on prejudice; treatment based on class, race, gender, or other categorization

Four Stages of “Boundary Maintenance” III. Segregation

Four Stages of “Boundary Maintenance” III. Segregation: The policy or practice of separating people of different races, classes, or ethnic groups Extreme examples include concentration camps and apartheid

Four Stages of “Boundary Maintenance” IV: Extraordinary “solutions”

Four Stages of “Boundary Maintenance” IV: Extraordinary “solutions”: Genocide and “ethnic cleansing” such as The Holocaust, Darfur, Rwanda, and Bosnia