Dignity Promotion and the Revenge of Honour
This article argues that the West’s neoliberal ‘dignity promotion’ in other parts of the world is counter-productive and leads to the resurgence of a primordial culture of honour, a concept too often an ignored in international relations research. The author shows how the West has hijacked and neoli...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Extreme Anthropology Research Network
2020-07-01
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| Series: | Journal of Extreme Anthropology |
| Online Access: | https://journals.uio.no/JEA/article/view/8027 |
| _version_ | 1818081670501236736 |
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| author | Jardar Nuland Østbø |
| author_facet | Jardar Nuland Østbø |
| author_sort | Jardar Nuland Østbø |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article argues that the West’s neoliberal ‘dignity promotion’ in other parts of the world is counter-productive and leads to the resurgence of a primordial culture of honour, a concept too often an ignored in international relations research. The author shows how the West has hijacked and neoliberalized the concept of dignity to include abstract notions of individual freedom and, above all, property rights and free trade. The concept of dignity is thus deprived of any social content. The strategy of dignity promotion, i.e. the effort to spread the idea of every individual’s inherent, inalienable worth, is based on the conviction that this will lead to a more secure world. However, sociological and anthropological research on moral cultures and honour has shown that security shapes moral cultures, not the other way round. The rise of dignity culture in the modern West was possible only when security, including social security, was provided. Conversely, honour dominates in insecure environments and resurfaces quickly when security disappears. The case study is Russia, where radical neoliberal restructuring in the early 1990s led to an anarchic brutalization of society, giving rise to a widespread culture of honour in Russian politics. On another level, Western dignity promotion in the former Soviet Union, epitomized by its support for ‘colour revolutions’, is perceived as an affront threatening Russian security by damaging its reputation for resolve. Within the culture of honour, the only moral answer to this is aggressive counter-attack. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T19:09:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-37938c79e7ec4850bde0952eb72d7fe4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2535-3241 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T19:09:54Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | Extreme Anthropology Research Network |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Extreme Anthropology |
| spelling | doaj.art-37938c79e7ec4850bde0952eb72d7fe42022-12-22T01:36:47ZengExtreme Anthropology Research NetworkJournal of Extreme Anthropology2535-32412020-07-014110.5617/jea.8027Dignity Promotion and the Revenge of HonourJardar Nuland Østbø0Norwegian Institute for Defence StudiesThis article argues that the West’s neoliberal ‘dignity promotion’ in other parts of the world is counter-productive and leads to the resurgence of a primordial culture of honour, a concept too often an ignored in international relations research. The author shows how the West has hijacked and neoliberalized the concept of dignity to include abstract notions of individual freedom and, above all, property rights and free trade. The concept of dignity is thus deprived of any social content. The strategy of dignity promotion, i.e. the effort to spread the idea of every individual’s inherent, inalienable worth, is based on the conviction that this will lead to a more secure world. However, sociological and anthropological research on moral cultures and honour has shown that security shapes moral cultures, not the other way round. The rise of dignity culture in the modern West was possible only when security, including social security, was provided. Conversely, honour dominates in insecure environments and resurfaces quickly when security disappears. The case study is Russia, where radical neoliberal restructuring in the early 1990s led to an anarchic brutalization of society, giving rise to a widespread culture of honour in Russian politics. On another level, Western dignity promotion in the former Soviet Union, epitomized by its support for ‘colour revolutions’, is perceived as an affront threatening Russian security by damaging its reputation for resolve. Within the culture of honour, the only moral answer to this is aggressive counter-attack.https://journals.uio.no/JEA/article/view/8027 |
| spellingShingle | Jardar Nuland Østbø Dignity Promotion and the Revenge of Honour Journal of Extreme Anthropology |
| title | Dignity Promotion and the Revenge of Honour |
| title_full | Dignity Promotion and the Revenge of Honour |
| title_fullStr | Dignity Promotion and the Revenge of Honour |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dignity Promotion and the Revenge of Honour |
| title_short | Dignity Promotion and the Revenge of Honour |
| title_sort | dignity promotion and the revenge of honour |
| url | https://journals.uio.no/JEA/article/view/8027 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jardarnulandøstbø dignitypromotionandtherevengeofhonour |