By Majed Ashy
Early anthropologists, such as Boas, and psychoanalysts such as Freud and Jung, discussed the anthropological and cultural origins of taboos. A taboo is “a social or religious custom prohibiting or restricting a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing.” (Oxford Living Dictionary) Every society has taboos that are defined and reinforced, and sometimes exploited, by various social and political powers and cultural organizations, such as religions, media, educational systems, and governments. Generally, powers threaten and impose punishments on individuals and groups crossing the line of the prohibited taboo.
The same cultural and psychological dynamics at play throughout history to define something as a taboo can be seen as contributing to current obstacles to peace and peace making. In some societies, not only are whole classes of people or nations characterized as evil, but associating with them is a taboo, as are their cultural tools and practices, and the expression of positive thoughts and emotions towards them. Any effort towards peace with groups subjected to taboos can itself become a taboo, surrounded by various myths and fears.
Through their cultural tools, the powers in society create the illusion of a collective agreement on the prohibition of peace with those “others,” and enforce their taboos with theological rationales, selective portrayals of the historical and current relations between the groups, and the particular meanings they assign to their own behavior and that of the others.
The same dynamics that frightened pre-historical humans regarding unseen “evil” spirits, and convinced them that there were powerful protectors in society with special knowledge about and weapons against those “enemies,” are still at play in today’s modern societies.
Understanding these cultural and psychological dynamics of taboo-making can help us free ourselves from being manipulated into viewing peace as a taboo.
Note from KMM: Ask yourself: Have our governments and other organizations made peace a taboo? Have there been efforts to punish individuals and groups who “cross the line” and try to promote peace? Is peaceful association with some groups and nations and respect for their customs and beliefs a taboo? What do people in power gain by tabooing particular groups? What can people do to protest against efforts to taboo the pursuit of peace and social justice?