Oh Sorry!: Rituals of forgiveness, crisis, and social struggle in postmodern capitalism - Softcover

Panagiotis Doulos; Edith González Cruz; Milena Rodríguez Aza

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1990263933 ISBN 13: 9781990263934

Publisher: Daraja Press, 2024

Synopsis

Understanding rituals of forgiveness in different sociocultural contexts around the world.

In recent years, the apology has become an important feature of politics. States are asking their own citizens or the citizens of other countries for forgiveness. 'Oh, sorry that we rounded up people in West Africa, shipped them across the Atlantic and sold them as slaves'. 'Oh, sorry that we convicted homosexuals as criminals.' 'Oh, sorry that we burnt so many women as witches.'

How do we understand the rise of the public apology and how do we relate to it politically? In a moment of severe social crisis, the institutional acts of apology and forgiveness could be theorised as a specific type of ritual which aims to respond to public anger and to reestablish social cohesion. The rituals of forgiveness are being presented as crucial steps for pacifying social tensions and establishing a new social contract, leaving behind the bloody past and rewriting historical memory for the sake of the common future. Violence, anger, guilt, memory, the attempt to pacify discontent and secure the continuity of violence: all of these come into play in the rise of the 'Oh, Sorry!'.

Our project is to understand these rituals of forgiveness in different sociocultural contexts around the world, and to discuss why at this historical moment the states are proceeding in this way, and what is the relationship with capitalist crisis and social struggle.

About this title

About the Author

Panagiotis Doulos is a PhD candidate in sociology at the Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades 'Alfonso Vélez Pliego' of the Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (BUAP) in Mexico. Edith González Cruz is a postdoctoral researcher in the Program for the Formation and Consolidation of Researchers for Mexico (CONAHCYT) at the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities 'Alfonso Velez Pliego' (BUAP). She is a member of the National System of Researchers (SNI-I). Milena Rodríguez Aza is a Colombian PhD student in Sociology at the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities 'Alfonso Velez Pliego' of the Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (BUAP), Mexico, and Master in Sociology from the same institution.

Edition details

• Publisher: Daraja Press
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1990263933
• ISBN 13: 9781990263934
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 200