Trauma: A Social Theory

242 Pages·2012·1.04 MB·English

by  Jeffrey C. Alexander

TRAUMA
For Ron Eyerman
TRAUMA
A Social Theory
JEFFREY C. ALEXANDER
polity
Copyright © Jeffrey C. Alexander 2012
The right of Jeffrey C. Alexander to be identifi ed as Author of this Work has been asserted
in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2012 by Polity Press
Polity Press
65 Bridge Street
Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK
Polity Press
350 Main Street
Malden, MA 02148, USA
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism
and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978–0–7456–4911–5 (hardback)
ISBN-13: 978–0–7456–4912–2 (paperback)
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Typeset in 10.5 on 12 pt Sabon
by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Group Limited, Bodmin, Cornwall
The publisher has used its best endeavors to ensure that the URLs for external websites
referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the
publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will
remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.
Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently
overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent
reprint or edition.
For further information on Polity, visit our website: www.politybooks.com
CONTENTS
Preface and Acknowledgments vi
Introduction 1
1 Cultural Trauma: A Social Theory 6
2 Holocaust and Trauma: Moral Universalism in the West 31
3 Holocaust and Trauma: Moral Restriction in Israel (with
Shai M. Dromi) 97
4 Mass Murder and Trauma: Nanjing and the Silence of
Maosim (with Rui Gao) 118
5 Partition and Trauma: Repairing India and Pakistan 136
6 Globalization and Trauma: The Dream of Cosmopolitan
Peace 155
Notes 166
References 207
Index 222
v
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book has its origins in the ferment of an intellectual project
begun in Palo Alto almost fi fteen years ago under the auspices of the
Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences. Ron Eyerman,
Bernhard Giesen, Neil Smelser, and Piotr Sztmpka were co-creators,
and our different lines of shared thinking eventually formed the chap-
ters of Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity (Alexander, Eyerman,
Giesen, Smelser, and Sztompka 2004). The cultural trauma project
has continued in the years since, with many new contributors (see,
e.g., Goodman 2009; Eyerman, Alexander, and Breese 2011). From
the beginning of this project until today it has been my privilege to
collaborate closely with Ron Eyerman, whose theoretical and empiri-
cal investigations into cultural trauma (Eyerman 2001, 2008, and
2011) have been immensely stimulating to my own, and with whom
I have directed (along with Philip Smith) the Yale Center for Cultural
Sociology. I dedicate this volume to Ron Eyerman with gratitude for
the generosity of his thinking, collegiality, and friendship. And, as so
often before, I also wish to record my indebtedness to Nadine Amalfi
for her editorial assistance in the preparation of this volume.
The chapters that follow have been revised in small or large part
for publication here. I thank the following publishers for permission
to reprint:
University of California Press for “Towards a Theory of Cultural
Trauma.” In J. C. Alexander et al., Cultural Trauma and Collective
Identity. 2004. (Chapter 1)
Oxford University Press for “On the Social Construction of Moral
Universals: The ‘Holocaust’ from Mass Murder to Trauma Drama.”
In J. C. Alexander (ed.) Remembering the Holocaust: A Debate.
2009. (Chapter 2)
vi
preface and acknowledgments
Paradigm Publishers for “Trauma Construction and Moral
Restriction: The Ambiguity of the Holocaust for Israel” (with Shai
Dromi). In R. Eyerman et al. (eds) Narrating Trauma: On the Impact
of Collective Suffering. 2011. (Chapter 3)
Peking University Press for “Remembrance of Things Past: Cultural
Trauma, The Nanking Massacre, and Chinese Identity” (with Rui
Gao). In Peking–Yale University Conference Publication on Tradition
and Modernity: Comparative Perspectives. 2007. (Chapter 4)
Routledge for “Postcolonialism, Trauma, and Civil Society: A New
Understanding.” In S. Koniordos et al. (eds) Confl ict, Citizenship and
Civil Society. 2009. (Chapter 5)
Springer for “Globalization as Collective Representation: The
New Dream of a Cosmopolitan Civil Sphere.” In I. Rossi (ed.)
Frontiers of Globalization Research: Theoretical and Methodological
Approaches. 2007. (Chapter 6)
vii
“The essence of drama: what will happen, who suffer, who not suffer,
what turn be determined, what crisis created, what issue found?”
— Henry James