Cooper and Taylor dissect Girard's Violence and the Sacred, diving into sacrificial crisis, Oedipus complex, myth origins, and societal dynamics. They explore violence, heteronormativity, and scapegoating, critiquing Girard's conservative implications. The podcast also touches on potlatch traditions, incest impact on exchange, and memetic violence in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Rituals distinguish good and evil, crucial for community unity.
Potlatch rituals mirror market self-regulation for balanced exchange.
Inability to exchange deepens symbolic debts leading to violence conflicts.
Deep dives
The Ritualistic Mind's Obligation to Separate What Cannot be Separated
The ritualistic mind, faced with the challenge of preventing afflictions, tries to cure what is inherently linked to the affliction. The ritualistic process must distinguish between good and evil, consolidating this difference after periods of chaos. The rights designate certain acts, like rituals or incest, as good, necessary for community unity, while setting aside other violent acts as bad, associated with unregulated violence.
The Potlatch's Self-Regulating Supply and Demand Logic
Potlatch rituals destroy accumulated wealth to prevent imbalances brought by excess production. The destruction in potlatch ceremonies serves as a check on surpluses to maintain debt scales. This self-regulating process mirrors the market's operation of supply and demand, ensuring a balanced exchange of resources.
Incest and Exchange: Blocking Exchange and Impending Violence
Incest blocks exchange with others, threatening alliances and foreclosing reciprocity that leads to the threat of violence. The inability to exchange with certain groups, akin to incest's blocking of exchange, signifies a surmounted debt, resulting in symbolic violence or conflict as a resolution attempt. This dynamic persists in conflicts like the Israel-Palestine issue, where unresolved symbolic debt breeds continuous violence and imbalance in exchange.
The Conflict Between Symbolic Exchange and Violence in Contemporary Societies
The struggle to resolve symbolic debt and achieve equilibrium in exchange underlies conflicts like the Israel-Palestine discord. Disproportionate responses to perceived debts can lead to escalations in violence. The inability to negotiate symbolic debts hinders peace and perpetuates cycles of violence, highlighting the critical role of exchange equilibrium in maintaining social stability.
Future Directions: Exploring the 'Vestal and the Fascists' for Deeper Insights
Planning to delve into 'The Vestal and the Fascists' for further analysis on justice distribution and power balancing in society. The text might offer additional perspectives on equitable exchange and the role of justice systems in maintaining social order. Considering this new reading to complement and enhance current insights into the dynamics of power, exchange, and violence in social structures.
This week Cooper and Taylor discuss the first 4 chapters of Rene Girard’s Violence and the Sacred: Sacrifice, The Sacrificial Crisis, Oedipus and the Surrogate Victim, and The Origins of Myth and Ritual.
Marcel Mauss's The Gift Episode:
https://soundcloud.com/podcast-co-coopercherry/the-gift?si=75d82545bf564e358f5a22f2b59390c3&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
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