Immigrants village hair dye

201810/On October 27th, a man who claimed that "all Jews must die" broke into a synagogue in Pittsburgh, USA, and shot 1 1 person. Almost at the same time, Central American refugees formed a caravan of 10,000 people and headed for the US border. These two incidents not only affected the mid-term elections in the United States, but also made people once again see the huge waves caused by racial problems in the United States.

▲ 2018101October 30th.

Trump and his wife are outside the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.

? Associated Press (AP)

This is just a recent thing. In the past half century, almost the whole world is experiencing unprecedented ethnic conflicts. This kind of conflict sometimes manifests itself in the debate on religious beliefs and cultural origins, and sometimes in the fanaticism of nationalism and racism.

This trend has led to the fact that the war has never stopped for more than 70 years after the end of World War II. It has caused no less destruction of civilization and casualties than the two world wars, but it has attracted little attention and reflection.

From the "9. 1 1 incident" in the United States, the terrorist attacks in Boston, the refugee tide in Europe, the ethnic division in Eastern Europe after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, to those areas in the Middle East that have been at war all the year round because of ethnic problems, ethnic conflicts and religious confrontation are going on all the time.

▲ 20065438+0 September 1 1 new york, 9. 1 1 Terrorist attacks that shocked the world, the planes hijacked by Al Qaeda crashed into the Manhattan World Trade Center Gemini one after another.

All these disputes and killings, in the view of American scholar Harold isaacs, stem from people's pursuit of group identification under political changes. This pursuit of group identity forces people to join or establish their own ethnic groups, and finally with a passion and impulse, they wage war on everything different from their own ethnic groups.

Harold Isaacs wrote his masterpiece Mobs based on the study of human groups, with the subtitle "Group Identity and Political Change". This book not only analyzes various ethnic phenomena in the world after World War II, but also reflects on the causes of ethnic groups. At the same time, I am more worried about the war that may be brought about by national movements in the future.

▲ "Mob"

Translator: Deng

Press: Guangxi Normal University Press

Release date: 20 18

This book, written in 1975, unexpectedly predicted the subsequent disintegration of the Soviet Union, the situation in India and Pakistan, the Middle East war, refugee flows, extremist organizations, terrorist attacks, and even the racial plight of African-Americans and Jews. This book not only becomes an encyclopedia of contemporary ethnic issues, but also can be used to look at the future of human groups.

Harold isaacs's "ethnic group" is a broad concept in Mob, which includes not only the concepts of nationality, race and population, but also ethnic groups in cultural sense such as religious groups, social organizations and academic factions. Their * * * similarity, in Harold isaacs's view, is to let people find their own belonging in the group and gain some self.

Similarly, the "group identity" mentioned many times in the book is also developed from the "personal identity" in psychology, and he hopes to explain the reasons and consequences of the increasing number of ethnic groups today.

At the beginning of the book, Harold isaacs lists the new changes in human society in the 30 years since 1945. Taking the Kikuyu family in power as an example, he put forward the symbolic concept of ethnic groups.

The so-called "Mbi House" is the collective worship of Kikuyu people and the mother of their culture. This matrix is not only the sum of all Kikuyu people, but also contains their belonging and goals.

According to Harold isaacs, all kinds of Mupi Houses are being rebuilt all over the world. He wrote:

"In today's world, there are such wooden houses everywhere, and people living in them are closer and more closely integrated than in the past. 」

In the process of turning the world into a "global village", although human science and technology are becoming more and more global and communication systems are becoming more and more popular, everything seems to unite human beings, and the world has become a village and knowledge has been enjoyed. However, instead of merging, human beings are increasingly divided:

"In the face of unprecedented fierce competition for resources and power in the world, human society is tearing itself into smaller and smaller pieces. 」

From 1945 to 1967, according to Harold isaacs's statistics, there were hundreds of "ethnic or cultural massacres" with the death toll of about 7.48 million. Although the world war has ended, regional wars have not stopped, and peace has not come to the earth. Instead, it is a broader and more incompatible war.

Why is this happening?

Harold isaacs investigated the racial problems in today's human society from four aspects: the post-colonial era, the post-imperial era, the post-revolutionary era and the post-fantasy era, trying to answer these questions.

In the post-colonial and post-imperial era, empires have been re-integrated, either because of the economy or because of the war, and they no longer exist. Ottoman and Habsburg dynasties in the post-imperial era, British Empire in the post-colonial era, etc. In their colonies or their former spheres of influence, they have gradually lost their effectiveness, and in these places, local nationalities have reappeared.

Although modern western culture entered with the advancement of colonization, most of them left behind systems and modes of production in vain, but there was no convincing belief and culture to continue to influence these colonies. The strong ethnic group identity has brought people from all over the world together to find their own "wooden house".

▲ The stills of the film Lawrence of Arabia tell many events that happened in the Ottoman Empire before and after World War I, and the hero is an Englishman, Colonel thomas edward lawrence.

In the post-revolutionary era, the Soviet Union not only did not disintegrate (this book was written in 1975), but expanded its strength at an alarming rate.

However, in Harold isaacs's view, the "new international socialist order" promised by the Soviet Union has become a farce, and the serious "central issue" of "ethnic issues" has not been well solved, but has been declared as empty talk by Stalin's tyranny. During Stalin's rule, "some ethnic groups were uprooted and exiled" and "millions of people" were executed.

▲ St. Petersburg czar's secret police file about Stalin. This Georgian was arrested and exiled many times in 1902- 19 13.

Harold Isaacs believes that once the power of the Soviet Union can't last, all ethnic groups within it will split up with their own "Mupi House" as their country. This situation will profoundly affect other socialist countries.

Finally, in the post-fantasy era, the United States cannot continue to promote its own values. As a "hodgepodge" of nationalities and cultures, it is impossible for the United States to establish a mother country and a perfect shelter, but it is full of mobility.

The equality and rights pursued by blacks, the hostility of Muslims, the identity confusion of Jews, the immigrants of British descent, French descent, Italian descent and Irish descent in the past, the new immigrants from Japan, China, India and South Korea, and countless religious organizations will all become the core issues that the United States cannot avoid.

I have to admit that Harold isaacs's prediction more than 40 years ago really happened in contemporary America.

▲ Martin Luther King

1963 in Washington.

All these problems finally point to the new political pattern after World War II. This reminds people of john fuller's viewpoint in Military History of the Western World. The strategist believes that the historical process of the world is just a series of changes from a single tribe to a multi-ethnic, from a nation to a country, from a country to an empire.

When the empire disappears, the process will start again. But in Harold isaacs's research, it seems that the empire is gone forever, and a pluralistic society has been formed. Without an empire, the integration and restraint of national similarities and differences will cease to exist. Harold isaacs wrote:

"The world we are experiencing today is not a new integration being formed, but it is broken into small pieces, just like planets, big and small, coming out of generate in the exploding Milky Way. Every planet leaves with centrifugal rotation, and at the same time, it also holds on to its own debris to avoid being thrown away by its own rotation. 」

Harold isaacs was not in a hurry to give an answer to this phenomenon. He believes that it is more important to understand what ethnic groups are and the reasons for their formation.

It is these questions that prompted Harold isaacs to write the main part of Mob. He recreated the ethnic group from eight angles: tribal idols, body, name, language, history, religion, nationality and new pluralism, which made readers have a more rational and comprehensive understanding of their ethnic characteristics and their endless pursuit of ethnic identity.

In this way, Harold isaacs brought the whole process from birth to death and from unconsciousness to consciousness into the ethnic group.

Harold Isaacs believes that when a person is born, all the information he comes into contact with is filtered by his ethnic group, thus forming his ideas, habits, behaviors and actions, making it impossible for him to be completely divorced from his own population and environment.

Tribal idols are actually a person's initial belonging and the highest goal and pursuit of a group. Even if a person tries to get rid of this brand all his life, he will eventually return to his tribe like a boomerang:

"In this era of great migration, many people are wandering around, leaving their homes and wells materially and culturally. The sense of belonging has become an ark they carry with them and a temple held by their ancestors. 」

This kind of tribal logo engraved in everyone's life is precipitated through the body, and people can't completely get rid of it. The most important difference between races is the physical difference. Not to mention the obvious differences between black and white people and yellow people, even in the same place, the differences between ethnic groups can not be ignored.

For example, Tutsis and Hutus who massacred each other in Rwanda and Burundi have almost no physical difference, but one strategy is tall and thin and the other is short and strong, which is enough to make them absolutely hostile to each other.

▲ stills of the movie "Hotel Rwanda"

The film restores the 1962 ethnic war in Rwanda.

In today's society, people always try to constantly transform their bodies. Or dye your hair, get breast implants, get tattoos, get nose rings, and try your best to change your height and body appearance. These are all "all for marking". Through these, "we can tell who is our own and who is an outsider." 」

The compulsion of the body is that no matter how people transform it, the culture and aesthetics it causes are deeply rooted. Even as far as the body is concerned, it can't be completely transformed, at least not yet.

Harold Isaacs started with the body, and then discussed the cultural categories brought by names and languages. The former often reflects a person's position in the ethnic group, which branch he belongs to and what kind of background he has, while the latter limits the scope of a person.

For this name, he said:

"Names, like social norms, provide a minimum sense of security. A person with a famous surname will feel safe, otherwise he will fall into despair. 」

As for language, he used the example of Babel and the philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder's view that "without language, a nation would not exist" to prove the profound influence of language on the formation and scope of activities of a nation.

▲ The Tower of Babel, written by the Dutch painter Pieter Bruggaier de Oude, is an allusion to the story in the Old Testament. It is said that mankind is going to build a tower of Babel leading to heaven, and God has disturbed people's language, resulting in various races.

When body, name and language are put into a historical process, people are more resigned to their fate and believe in their tribal idols. History has given people a broader sense of group identity, and it soothes people's hearts with the glory of the past. Those nations that have no glory in the past will also strive to create glory to meet the urgent need of group identity.

Parallel and complementary to history is another dimension of identity, namely religion. History can solve the ownership of time flow, and religion can solve the ownership of body and soul. Indeed, people can't live independently in the world, and even the smartest people can't help but shrink back to God.

Harold isaacs quoted a saying that circulated during World War II: "There are no atheists in foxholes". He tried to show that we all live in foxholes today, which will lead to more and more fanatical religions in the future. However, religion is always accompanied by violence:

"(People) kill each other, whether for the sake of religion itself or other secular interests, such as security, money and power, mixed with the issue of faith. Religion is a symbol and fortress that appeals to people to unite. 」

In this way, history and religion have finally become a nation. "It's only one step from religion to nationality". After religion solved the troubles on the other side for the nation, other tasks were left to the nation. If one day, history is shattered and disappeared, and the binding force of religion is abolished and diluted, then this nation will still have strong attraction.

The Jewish example cited by Harold isaacs in this part vividly depicts the Mbeki family that this country can reach. Jews in the United States are religious Jews and Americans in this country. As a result, after the Zionists established Israel, "American Jews became the main supporters" and gave Israel economic and political support. Some Jews even abandoned the United States and defected to Israel. Other Jews in the United States began to try to rebuild Jewish shelters in the United States.

This kind of example has happened all over the world, and Mbi House has made a comeback, splitting the world through political changes of neo-pluralism.

In the preface written by the American scholar Bai Luyi for Mob, he said:

"National consciousness can build a country or tear it apart. 」

In Harold isaacs's narrative, people's dependence on ethnic groups and their desire for belonging are magnified in the new world and become an unsolvable paradox. The interconnected world that mankind has painstakingly built is constantly being broken, and he sighs:

"Why, time and time again, those things that are deeply hidden in our bodies and spirits have blocked our deepest hope again and again-leading to a more humanized human existence. 」

Harold Isaacs, a scholar who stayed in China for a long time and an American of Jewish descent, came to a pessimistic conclusion in the process of constantly exploring the racial dilemma. He believes that perhaps human beings will not have any knowledge higher than race after all. In the distant future, war will not stop. All the absurd killings and inhuman extinctions that have happened will not come to an abrupt end.

His views may not be accepted by contemporary people, but in the cold war era, he showed a calm concern. In his time, the world was polarized for the first time, but in the seemingly indestructible two poles, Harold isaacs saw the repressed chaos.

The desolation of human spirit in the 20th century, coupled with the destruction caused by war, finally made people lose their sense of security in all aspects.

Will the world be safe?

Will mankind reach * * * knowledge?

Does mankind have a bright future?

These are the voiceovers left by Harold isaacs in Mob.

▲ One of the few photos left by Harold Isaacs, an American journalist and scholar, stayed in China for a long time and met Lu Xun, Cai Yuanpei, Soong Ching Ling and others.

Fortunately, in the new pluralistic environment, the closed house of Mbi in the past is gone forever. The structure of Mbeki's new home makes it possible for all ethnic groups in the world to reach some understanding, even if it is far away.

The increasing mobility between different cultures and races makes it more difficult for people to really aggregate into a whole. Even though the internet enables people from different regions to communicate without barriers, people are still forced to accept the alternate baptism of various ideas and cultures.

In this case, hope and worry coexist. As Harold isaacs put it at the end of this book:

"In the new pluralistic power system, people's life forms that are satisfactory to each other can still be realized. In the face of all kinds of contrary facts, there seems to be nothing we can do, but some people think that it may still be worth a gamble to deal with human affairs in a more humane way, and the right thing may still happen, even for the wrong reasons. 」 ■