The Architecture of Blame: The End of Victimage and the Beginning of Justice
The structure of society—whether political, social, economic, religious, or familial—can be described as built upon structures of acceptable blame. But what happens when we can no longer persuade each other about where blame for particular actions should land? What happens when the expected scapegoats refuse that role and bystanders question their support of sacrificing “the usual suspects”? René Girard, master theorist of scapegoating and victimage, would characterize this era as one of sacrificial crisis. The Architecture of Blame: The End of Victimage and the Beginning of Justice explores these current critical areas of failed persuasion as symptoms of a deeper and much more profound crisis in our religious, social, and political order. This book offers six precepts addressing the un- or under-theorized aspects of Girard’s theory of scapegoating and sacrificial violence. These precepts, supported with examples from religion, psychology, literature, and history, illuminate the root causes of the current sacrificial crisis in the world. They open a way forward to a future without scapegoats.

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The Architecture of Blame: The End of Victimage and the Beginning of Justice
The structure of society—whether political, social, economic, religious, or familial—can be described as built upon structures of acceptable blame. But what happens when we can no longer persuade each other about where blame for particular actions should land? What happens when the expected scapegoats refuse that role and bystanders question their support of sacrificing “the usual suspects”? René Girard, master theorist of scapegoating and victimage, would characterize this era as one of sacrificial crisis. The Architecture of Blame: The End of Victimage and the Beginning of Justice explores these current critical areas of failed persuasion as symptoms of a deeper and much more profound crisis in our religious, social, and political order. This book offers six precepts addressing the un- or under-theorized aspects of Girard’s theory of scapegoating and sacrificial violence. These precepts, supported with examples from religion, psychology, literature, and history, illuminate the root causes of the current sacrificial crisis in the world. They open a way forward to a future without scapegoats.

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The Architecture of Blame: The End of Victimage and the Beginning of Justice

The Architecture of Blame: The End of Victimage and the Beginning of Justice

by Mary Marcel
The Architecture of Blame: The End of Victimage and the Beginning of Justice

The Architecture of Blame: The End of Victimage and the Beginning of Justice

by Mary Marcel

Hardcover

$105.00 
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Overview

The structure of society—whether political, social, economic, religious, or familial—can be described as built upon structures of acceptable blame. But what happens when we can no longer persuade each other about where blame for particular actions should land? What happens when the expected scapegoats refuse that role and bystanders question their support of sacrificing “the usual suspects”? René Girard, master theorist of scapegoating and victimage, would characterize this era as one of sacrificial crisis. The Architecture of Blame: The End of Victimage and the Beginning of Justice explores these current critical areas of failed persuasion as symptoms of a deeper and much more profound crisis in our religious, social, and political order. This book offers six precepts addressing the un- or under-theorized aspects of Girard’s theory of scapegoating and sacrificial violence. These precepts, supported with examples from religion, psychology, literature, and history, illuminate the root causes of the current sacrificial crisis in the world. They open a way forward to a future without scapegoats.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781666944723
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: 06/05/2024
Pages: 252
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Mary Marcel is associate professor of experience design at Bentley University (PhD Rhetoric, University of California at Berkeley) where she teaches business ethics and managerial communication.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction: The Architecture of Blame

Chapter 1: Theorizing the Current Crisis

Chapter 2: The Agency of Human Scapegoats as Scapegoats

Chapter 3: Scapegoating as Process

Chapter 4: Women and Children: Experiences of Violence Without the Sacred

Chapter 5: Fathers and Their Sons as Scapegoats: Ham and Jesus

Chapter 6: Crimes Against Nurture: The Painful Childhood of the Future Powerful

Chapter 7: The Power of Bystanders: Acceding to or Rejecting Scenes of Sacrifice

Conclusion: Reducing Pain and Sharing What Remains

References

About the Author

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