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Emotional Infrastructure of Reconciliation

Jacek Kurczewski, Institute of Applied Social Sciences , University of Warsaw Joanna Kurczewska, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology , Polish Academy of Sciences j.kurczewski@uw.edu.pl. Emotional Infrastructure of Reconciliation

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Emotional Infrastructure of Reconciliation

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  1. Jacek Kurczewski, Institute of Applied SocialSciences, University of WarsawJoanna Kurczewska, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, PolishAcademy of Sciencesj.kurczewski@uw.edu.pl EmotionalInfrastructure of Reconciliation Paper for RC01 meetingat ISA 2014 Congress in Yokohama

  2. Structure of Presentation • 1 – 2009-2012 Conclusions of Study in Antagonism and Reconciliation in SelectedMulticulturalAreas/Localities in Poland and Vicinity (Latvia, Ukraine); • 2 – New Research (2013---) on Disputing as Element of Popular LegalCulture; • 3 -- Discussion

  3. 1. PreviousResearch • Kurczewski Jacek, Ed., 2012, Socjologiapojednania [Sociology of Reconciliation], Nomos, Cracow. • KurczewskiJacek & Aleksandra Herman, Eds., 2012, Antagonizmipojednanie w srodowiskachwielokulturowych [Antagonism and Reconciliation in Muticultural Environment], Słowo-obraz-terytorium, Gdańsk. • Kurczewski Jacek, Ed., 2014, Reconciliation in Bloodlands. AssessingActions and Outcomes in Contemporary Central-Eastern Europe, Peter Lang, Frankfurt a/M.

  4. The Trauma (stage 1) • Sudden mass killingsresult in the griefexperienced by thosewhofeelassociated with the victims. • John Braithwaite re-assessment of R.K. Merton’sclassicaltheory of social anomie as undermining of moral order thatallows for suchevents. • V.Turner re-assessment of A. van Gennep’sconcept of liminalstage in a passagethatis the moment of anti-structurethatresult in the collectivecommunitas. • Massacre as the liminalstatefulfilling the conditions of anomie thatis the lawlessness.

  5. A PartialTheory of Reconciliation (Steps 2 and 3 in the Passage) • A need for symbolicinversion of massacre by rituals of reconciliationunder the conditions of liminality, real orimitatedatsymboliclevel of socialrepresentation of the assumed ‚they’ – ‚us’ groups; • Reconstruction of moral order by the legitimateauthorities of the ‚groups’, oldornew; • Rites of directcommunitasrecreatedatlevel of the people, real orvirtual ‚members’ of the ‚groups’ in the givenlocality; • Reconstruction of legitimateopportunitiesthatturnpotentialactorsaway from conflict of interestsituations.

  6. 2. New Research 2014 • Of manyinternationalconflicts Poland experiencedsinceits re-establihingafter WW1 somehaverisen on the borders and someinside the ethnicallydevidedsocietylike in manyother Central Europeansocieties. In nation-widesurveymade in Poland in May 2014 attitudestowardssome of the partieswithindyadicconflicts of the past hadbeenstudied as part of the NationalSciences Centre Grant No. 2012/07/B/HS6/02496 on disputebehavior in popular legalculture.

  7. Table 2.1.Polish Evaluation of Relations With the Neighbors At Present (in %, CBOS May 2014, n=1060)

  8. Table 2.2. AcceptanceRatios by Poles of TheirNeighbors (in %, CBOS May, 2014, n=1060)

  9. Table 2.3. EmotionsFeltBy PolesTowardsTheirNeighbors (in %, 3 choices, CBOS May 2014, n=1060)

  10. Results At ThisStage • From the previousstudy we knowthatemotions and assessmentarelocality-specific; depending on localprivatememory and experience; • Emotions and assessmentcorrelate BUT NOT IDEALLY. It remains to explain the divergence. • Memory of the traumaticexperiencemight be limitedlocally (PL – Czech, PL-Lithuanian, PL – Slovak, PL – Byelorussian) and extantatnationallevel; • Suddenrenewal of memory of traumaticevents (1943 mass extermination of ca 100,000 Poles in UkrainianVolhynia) leads to antagonisticemotionsamong the youth (PL – Ukrainians); • Suddenrenewedtraumaticexperience (2010 Smolenskcatastrophe with Polishleaders on crashedplane) combined with renewedaggressive Russian policy towardsneigborsleads to renewal of antagonisticmemories (1940 murder in Katyń etc. of ca 20,000 internedPolishofficersand takingover 1/3 of pre-war Polishterritory) and emotions (PL – Russians); • Mass killingsof Poles by German occupyingforces (f.i. ca almost 200,000 killed in WarsawUprising of 1944) routinized by permanent memory and accompanied by decades of peacefulhistory of relations (plus passingover 1/3 of territory to Poles and latelegitimizing the newopportunities) continues to support the German-Polishreconciliationstarted by PolishCatholic Church leaders in 1965 and onlyverylately(1990) repeated by the democraticallylegitimizedstateauthorities.

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