The modern era is one of confusion and insecurity. The globalization of communications has globalized attitudes that were once mostly encountered at the local or national level. Simplistic and monolithic representations of the ‘other’ or the ‘foreigner’, who may well be a neighbour, once sustained certainties and a more or less conscious racism towards ‘him’ and ‘them’ that were reassuring to oneself (‘me’,‘we’) and one’s own doubt. The phenomenon has spread and become more pronounced, and the twin phenomena of globalization and migration have, by increasing insecurity and fears proportionally, helped to foster attitudes that are often irrational, or at least unreasonable. Conversely, the circles to which we belong have become proportionally smaller and increasingly exclusivist: we must have an identity, belong to a community or group, and our loyalty to it must be absolute.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 09:48:44 +0000