Twenty Years of Theorization – Lending a Foucauldian and Bourdieuian Lens - Article by Tannistha Sarkar

 

Chalanta Sarker, a Sociology student at Adamas University, is deeply passionate about Comparative Literature, Western Philosophy and Literary Theory, Mythology and its Interpretation, Sociological Thought, Geopolitics, Ancient Indian Literatrure and Culture. 

On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist it by David Livingstone Smith

(Smith, David Livingstone. 2020. On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.)

The epigraph of the book On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist is “Humanity is a magnificent but fragile achievement.” In other words, Humanity is constantly at risk by humans, as they do not always behave in ways that are consistent with human values such as empathy, compassion, and cooperation. The world has seen two world war horrors in the last century. Humanity has made remarkable progress, but still, Certain groups or individuals may hold or engage in harmful practices such as racism, violence, discrimination etc. This book investigates the nature of Dehumanization and its associated elements. Social, political, psychological, economic, and even childhood experiences can contribute to the development of dehumanizing attitudes and behaviors in individuals.

 A truck is being loaded with many chickens to be raised. In a head-on collision with another truck on the road, the truck with the chickens drowned in a pond. The drivers of both trucks also died there. A memorial was erected there to honour the truck drivers. Another memorial was built there for all the dead chickens. Will people accept both memorials in the same way? Probably not. People like to think of themselves as the best creatures living on earth, so a monument can be built for humans. But many people would find it very ridiculous to do that for chickens. Not only that, but even among humans, some are considered superior while others are seen as inferior. Even one race can consider another race inferior.

 If you think deeply about the Rohingya problem, you will see that this kind of problem is not new all over the world. In 2012, three Rohingyas gang-raped and killed a Buddhist woman. The police arrested the three of them. However, some Burmese Buddhists formed a mob and put pressure on the police to hand over the three Rohingyas for trial. The police did not listen to them. A few days later, ten Muslim Rohingyas were forcibly taken off the bus by the Burmese Buddhists and beaten to death. Then the houses of the Rohingyas were burned. The government initially remained silent but later actively participated in the violence. The Rohingyas retaliated against government forces, which led to intensified persecution. Various types of propaganda were resorted to torturing and genocide the Rohingyas. Not only the Rohingya Muslims but also the Rohingya non-Muslims were indiscriminately tortured and killed. 

 Most people would think twice before killing a person. A large part of them would never be able to make the decision to kill anyone.  But that does not mean that most people make decisions based on reason and consideration. At least, this is not the case when it comes to killing people. Countless people have died at the hands of humans in the history of the world. Many people are still dying at the hands of humans in the world. The common man cannot even think of killing someone just like that. But this situation can be changed very easily by following certain strategies. If, before making a decision to kill a person, tribe or nation, they can be shown as inhuman, subhuman, and inferior creatures, then killing them becomes relatively easy. There are countless such examples in the history of the world. The example of the Rohingyas that we saw above also followed the same pattern. They were told - “These non-human kalar dogs (in Myanmar it is known as a vile insult), the Bengalis, are killing and destroying our land, our water and our ethnic people. . . . We need to destroy their race.” In other words, the Rohingyas are not human, they came from outside and took over the place of the Burmese.  So, killing the Rohingya is not a bad thing. Rather, it is very positive for one's own nation and country.

 We naturally divide people into two groups: 'our own' and 'others. Our compassion, compassion, and love for our own people do not work as much for 'others' or 'others'. This is not unusual. But from this tendency to do ourselves and others, we can do serious harm to others without our knowledge. If someone sees another person as inferior to themselves or as a barbaric monster, then that 'other person' is a victim of 'dehumanization'. A person can insult another person. But if one thinks that the person being tortured is "not human", then it will not seem difficult to torture. Since he is not human, a person has the freedom to do whatever he wants. In this case, the torturer considers himself a human being but in reality, he does not even know whether he is a human being. 

 When someone considers another person as subhuman or non-human, they present them in a brutal, monstrous and very inferior way. In fact, this is the effect of dehumanization. If dehumanization is judged from this behavioral aspect, it can be called a symptom of a disease. Then the question arises, what is the disease? To answer this question it can be said that the disease (Dehumanization) is the various catalysts acting behind dehumanization. To eradicate the disease, the disease itself has to be identified. otherwise, the disease cannot be eradicated by identifying its symptoms. 

 People can consider others as subhuman without their knowledge. Even without directly behaving discriminatory towards others. Again, people can also show that they are subhuman by expressing it in their behavior. But that person himself may not have consciously thought about it. This behavior of a person is directly related to his social, political, economic and psychological aspects. The following book (On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It) discusses in detail the active elements behind genocide, torture, the way they work and how the state and government skillfully implant these in the minds of people. The author describes in this book his experience of racial oppression and social exclusion in youth. This experience helped him a lot to understand, and face dehumanization and its social construction. The main argument of the author to understand dehumanization and its tool is that everyone has the potential for a dehumanizing mindset, which must first be acknowledged to be effectively resisted. He suggests we combat dehumanization within ourselves and address it on a social and political level. The book provides practical steps for this fight, including recognizing and calling out dehumanization.