- Title Pages
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Inter‐country Comparisons of Income Poverty Based on a Capability Approach†
- Chapter 2 The Capability Approach and the Political Economy of Human Development
- Chapter 3 India and China†
- Chapter 4 Sustainable Human Well‐Being
- Chapter 5 Human Rights and Human Development†
- Chapter 6 Entitlements and Capabilities
- Chapter 7 Country Patterns of Behavior on Broader Dimensions of Human Development
- Chapter 8 Poverty and Famines
- Chapter 9 Engaging With Sen on Gender Relations
- Chapter 10 Family Ties, Incentives and Development†
- Chapter 11 From “Harmony” to “Cooperative Conflicts”
- Chapter 12 Famine, Widowhood and Paid Work
- Chapter 13 Time And Income
- Chapter 14 Death and Gender in Victorian England
- Chapter 15 Missing Women
- Chapter 16 Challenges Of Economic Development In Punjab†
- Chapter 17 Growth, Distribution and Inclusiveness
- Chapter 18 Economic Reforms, Poverty and Inequality In China and India
- Chapter 19 Economics, Ethics and Climate Change†
- Chapter 20 Has Development And Employment Through Labor‐Intensive Industrialization Become History?†
- Chapter 21 Imposed Environmental Standards and International Trade†
- Chapter 22 Pondering Poverty, Fighting Famines
- Chapter 23 Identity, Violence and the Power of Illusion
- Chapter 24 Freedom and Equality
- Chapter 25 Protective Security or Protection Rackets? War and Sovereignty
- Chapter 26 Democracy and Its Indian Pasts
- Chapter 27 The Clash Within
- Chapter 28 Engaging with Impossibilities and Possibilities†
- Chapter 29 Agents into Principals
- Index of Names
- Index of Subjects
Identity, Violence and the Power of Illusion
Identity, Violence and the Power of Illusion
- Chapter:
- (p.436) Chapter 23 Identity, Violence and the Power of Illusion
- Source:
- Arguments for a Better World: Essays in Honor of Amartya Sen, Volume 2
- Author(s):
Jonathan Glover (Contributor Webpage)
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This chapter is an attempt to develop Sen's discussion of how illusions about identity contribute to violent conflict. The importance of nationality and religion in people's sense of their identity is linked to deep psychological needs. The role of identity in violence is linked to group narratives, especially about humiliation and defeat. In terrorist attacks such as 9/11 and in the response to them, the cycle of violence is maintained by the backlash against perceived humiliation, together with illusions about collective responsibility. A case is made for an Enlightenment idea of international order as the way to escape from these cycles of violence.
Keywords: identity, violence, illusions, humiliation, backlash, Enlightenment
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- Title Pages
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Inter‐country Comparisons of Income Poverty Based on a Capability Approach†
- Chapter 2 The Capability Approach and the Political Economy of Human Development
- Chapter 3 India and China†
- Chapter 4 Sustainable Human Well‐Being
- Chapter 5 Human Rights and Human Development†
- Chapter 6 Entitlements and Capabilities
- Chapter 7 Country Patterns of Behavior on Broader Dimensions of Human Development
- Chapter 8 Poverty and Famines
- Chapter 9 Engaging With Sen on Gender Relations
- Chapter 10 Family Ties, Incentives and Development†
- Chapter 11 From “Harmony” to “Cooperative Conflicts”
- Chapter 12 Famine, Widowhood and Paid Work
- Chapter 13 Time And Income
- Chapter 14 Death and Gender in Victorian England
- Chapter 15 Missing Women
- Chapter 16 Challenges Of Economic Development In Punjab†
- Chapter 17 Growth, Distribution and Inclusiveness
- Chapter 18 Economic Reforms, Poverty and Inequality In China and India
- Chapter 19 Economics, Ethics and Climate Change†
- Chapter 20 Has Development And Employment Through Labor‐Intensive Industrialization Become History?†
- Chapter 21 Imposed Environmental Standards and International Trade†
- Chapter 22 Pondering Poverty, Fighting Famines
- Chapter 23 Identity, Violence and the Power of Illusion
- Chapter 24 Freedom and Equality
- Chapter 25 Protective Security or Protection Rackets? War and Sovereignty
- Chapter 26 Democracy and Its Indian Pasts
- Chapter 27 The Clash Within
- Chapter 28 Engaging with Impossibilities and Possibilities†
- Chapter 29 Agents into Principals
- Index of Names
- Index of Subjects