Post-Workshops

Prof. M.D. Vamik Volkan, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, University of Virginia Charlottsville, VA. // DLFAPA,FACPsa,
Senior Erik Erikson Scholar, Erikson Institute for Research and Education of the Austen Riggs Center, Stockbridge MA
Training and Supervising Analyst Emeritus, Washington Psychoanalytic Institute, Washington DC

Adresse
1909 Stillhouse Rd. Charlottsville, VA 22901 USA, email: Omervamik@aol.com
Killing in the Name of Identity

Contribution

post-workshop 6 hours May 12th

Killing in the Name of Identity
During the last 3 years, I have slowly moved away from studying large-group conflicts by applying only what we know about the internal worlds of individuals to large group (societal) processes in their own right. I have tried to understand the nature of the large-group identity and how one large group relates to another one in peace and war. I have become pessimistic about finding or establishing a lasting peaceful world, not only because human beings are endowed with aggression, but also because large-group psychology, in its own right, includes the necessity to find enemies and allies. On the other hand, since my involvement, starting in 1979, in bringing high level enemy representatives for unofficial diplomatic dialogues series, I have become optimistic about using psychologically informed insights and techniques to deal with, to modify certain specific and limited international problems and establish nonviolent coexistence between groups with different identities.
This presentation tries to answer these following questions"Why do they hate us so? What are the universal elements present in humanity, which converge in producing great human tragedies?"

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