delegitimisation
{{Short description|Sociopsychological process of taking perceived authority away from something}}
Delegitimisation (also spelled delegitimization) is the withdrawal of legitimacy, usually from some institution such as a state, cultural practice, etc. which may have acquired it explicitly or implicitly, by statute or accepted practice. It is a sociopsychological[https://books.google.com/books?id=vlN6FyNjMRsC&pg=PA29 The Oxford Handbook of Intergroup Conflict] edited by Linda Tropp, p. 29 process which undermines or marginalises an entity by presenting facts and/or value judgments that are construed to withdraw legitimacyClabaugh, Gary et al. (2007). {{Google books|cyGIMEWfcRUC|Analyzing Controversy, p. 36.|page=36.}} and can in some cases be a self-justifying mechanism,Volpato, Chiara et al. [http://ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/71/pdf_3 "Picturing the Other: Targets of Delegitimization across Time"], International Journal of Conflict and Violence (Germany). Vol. 4, No. 2 (2010), p. 273, citing Daniel Bar-Tal. (1990). "Causes and Consequences of Delegitimization: Models of Conflict and Ethnocentrism," Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 46, pp. 65-89; retrieved 2011-09-19. with the ultimate goal of justifying harm of an outgroup.
The concept applies to a wide spectrum of social contexts ranging from disputes about political entities to chronic illnesses.Arthur Kleinman, "The Social Course of Chronic Illness" in [https://books.google.com/books?id=bzAwGBbGJTwC&pg=PA181 Chronic Illness: From Experience to Policy] edited by S. Kay Toombs, David Barnard, Ronald Alan Carson, p. 181
Definition, function and mechanisms
Delegitimisation is the process of constructing a "categorization of groups into extreme social categories which are ultimately excluded from society".Volpato, p. 272; retrieved 2011-09-19. Delegitimisation provides "the moral and the discursive basis to harm the delegitimized group, even in the most inhumane ways".[https://books.google.com/books?id=vlN6FyNjMRsC&pg=PA31 The Oxford Handbook of Intergroup Conflict] edited by Linda Tropp, p. 31
Daniel Bar-Tal identified five rhetorical strategies by which delegitimisation occurs: dehumanisation (e.g. "uncivilised savages"), trait characterisation ("idiots", "parasites"), outcasting ("murderers", "terrorists"), use of political labels ("Nazis", "imperialists"), and delegitimisation by group comparison (e.g. with the Huns). Volpato et al. found eight delegitimizing strategies,Volpato, (abstract); retrieved 2011-09-18. including trait characterisation, political labels, group comparison, segregation, outcasting and using a delegitimised group to stigmatise another group. For example, images of derogated target groups were published in the Italian Fascist magazine La Difesa della Razza in the 1930s.Volpato, p. 275; retrieved 2011-09-19.
A process affecting actual beliefs rather than mere rhetoric is presumed to be at work however. An early controlled study published in 1960 showed that "serious and violent conflict can change previously held positive views of the other group" as in the case of the 1959 border disputes between India and China, eventually leading to the 1962 Sino-Indian War. "Before the dispute, Indian students considered the Chinese to be artistic, religious, industrious, friendly, progressive, and honest. But, as the conflict developed, the Chinese were stereotyped by the same Indian students also as aggressive, cheating, selfish, war-mongering, cruel and shrewd."[https://books.google.com/books?id=vlN6FyNjMRsC&pg=PA35 The Oxford Handbook of Intergroup Conflict] edited by Linda Tropp, p. 35
Bar-Tal found that the process mostly occurs in the cases of intractable conflicts and ethnocentrism.[https://books.google.com/books?id=x-YL3Rgl80sC&pg=PA321 Delegitimization] entry in The Encyclopedia of Peace Psychology edited by Daniel J. Christie. According to Bar-Tal, in these contexts delegitimisation is part of an unholy trinity together with beliefs in justness of own goals and collective self-victimhood.[https://books.google.com/books?id=vlN6FyNjMRsC&pg=PA37 The Oxford Handbook of Intergroup Conflict] edited by Linda Tropp, p. 37
History and examples
In 1975, "delegitimisation" became a kind of "buzz word" when then-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Daniel Patrick Moynihan accused the international body of delegitimising Israel by passing a "Zionism is racism" resolution.Rosenberg, M.J. [https://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-xpm-2011-jul-17-la-oe-rosenberg-israel-20110717-story.html "Israel: 'Delegitimization' is just a distraction,"] Los Angeles Times (US), July 17, 2011; Lis, Jonathan. [http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/livni-delegitimization-of-israel-exacerbates-other-threats-1.309993 "Livni: Delegitimization of Israel exacerbates other threats,"] Haaretz (Israel). August 24, 2010; retrieved 2011-09-19. After United States President Barack Obama included the term in a 2011 speech, it developed wider international currency.Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies) mirroring Kohen, Marcelo. [http://graduateinstitute.ch/Jahia/site/iheid/cache/bypass/lang/en/institute/news?newsId=120143&archive_month=8&archive_year=2011 "Oui au Kosovo, non à la Palestine?"] Le Temps (Switzerland). September 15, 2011; excerpt, "1. «La démarche palestinienne délégitimise Israël.» (Obama, 19 mai 2011). La démarche palestinienne ne remet pas en cause l’Etat d’Israël. Au contraire, elle implique la reconnaissance de son existence et consolide la solution des deux Etats"; retrieved 2011-09-19.
The paired concepts of "legitimise" and "de-legitimise" have gained currency in discussions about nuclear disarmament.Blair, Bruce et al. [http://carnegieendowment.org/static/npp/pdf/Smaller_and_Safer.pdf "Smaller and Safer, A New Plan for Nuclear Postures,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103173057/http://carnegieendowment.org/static/npp/pdf/Smaller_and_Safer.pdf |date=2011-11-03 }} Foreign Affairs (US), Vol. 89, No. 5, September/October 2010; excerpt, "These postures also perpetuate a mutual reliance on nuclear weapons that lends legitimacy to the nuclear ambitions of other nations"; compare Berry, Ken et al. [http://cns.miis.edu/opapers/pdfs/delegitimizing_nuclear_weapons_may_2010.pdf "Delegitimizing Nuclear Weapons: Examining the Validity of Nuclear Deterrence,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020091959/http://cns.miis.edu/opapers/pdfs/delegitimizing_nuclear_weapons_may_2010.pdf |date=2011-10-20 }} Monterey Institute of International Studies. May 2010; retrieved 2011-09-20.
Arthur Kleinman found that a patients with a chronic illness experience delegitimation when doctors treat their description of pain or other symptoms as exaggerated or even untrue.
See also
Notes
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References
- Berry, Ken, Patricia Lewis, Benoît Pélopidas, Nikolai Sokov and Ward Wilson. [https://web.archive.org/web/20111020091959/http://cns.miis.edu/opapers/pdfs/delegitimizing_nuclear_weapons_may_2010.pdf "Delegitimizing Nuclear Weapons: Examining the Validity of Nuclear Deterrence,"] Monterey Institute of International Studies. May 2010.
- Clabaugh, Gary K. and Edward G. Rozycki. (1997). Analyzing Controversy. Guilford, Connecticut: Dushkin/McGraw-Hill. {{ISBN|9780697343352}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/37662714 OCLC 37662714]
- Volpato, Chiara et al. [http://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/71 "Picturing the Other: Targets of Delegitimization across Time" (abstract)], International Journal of Conflict and Violence (Germany). Vol. 4, No. 2 (2010), pp. 269–287.
External links
- Brimmer, Esther. [https://2009-2017.state.gov/p/io/rm/2011/166223.htm "Multilateral Cooperation Between The United States and Israel: Fighting Delegitimization, Moving Forward Together,"] Address at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, June 15, 2011.