Path to Collective Madness: A Study in Social Order and Political Pathology

Why did the Rwandan genocide take place? How could parents feed their own children drinks laced with poison in Jonestown? As we see many parts of the world being engulfed in fratricidal frenzy, we wonder if it can happen in this country. Gupta examines contemporary cases of genocide and mass murder and seeks to explain why certain societies are more prone to these actions and others are relatively immune. Gupta sees a dialectical tension between our two identities: the self and the collective. The end of the medieval period was marked by the emergence of individualism in Europe. With time, the march of individualism engulfed the entire Western world and permeated every aspect of its culture, tradition, and academic paradigm. Neoclassical economics is the embodiment of this single-minded pursuit of the rationality of individualism. However, our psychobiological evolution has also imbued us with the irrepressible desire to form groups and to act upon its welfare. The reason for this eternal conflict lies in our own struggle with our two identities. When the pendulum swings to the extreme end of collectivism, genocide and other forms of social abnormalities--collective madness--occur. When we move too far into individualism, people tend to seek something greater beyond selfish pursuits. Through his panoramic view, Gupta provides an explanation for both social order and political pathology that will be of interest to students, scholars, and other researchers involved with ethnic conflict, collective behavior, and conflict resolution.

Table of Contents:
Preface Setting the Stage "The Children Didn't Cry": The Face of Insanity At the Great Divide of Identity: Individual and Collective The Confusions of a Singular World View Path to Collective Madness Homo Collectivus: The Social Man The Slippery Slope: From Identity to Madness Madness or Not: The Two Ends of the Spectrum In Search of Policy Where There is a Will The Insane Future: Looking Ahead into the Next Century Bibliography Index

About the Author :
DIPAK K. GUPTA is the Fred J. Hansen Professor of Peace Studies, Professor in the School of Public Administration and Urban Studies, and the Co-Director, Institute for International Security and Conflict Resolution at San Diego State University. He has held numerous visiting fellowships, including at the UN Terrorism Prevention Branch, Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention. Professor Gupta has published extensively on issues of violence and ethnicity, including The Economics of Political Violence: The Effects of Political Instability on Economic Growth (Praeger, 1990).

Review :
?[T]he book's most important contribution is its powerful presentation of how imperative and profitable it is to study collective identities and violence from new, interdisciplinary angles....[G]upta wrote with striking clairvoyance before 11 September: "judging from our past and based on current trends, it is highly probable that in the coming decades in many parts on the world, people will respond to the siren song of sociopaths like Jim Jones or demagogues like Radovan Karadzic, or Adolf Hitler. We can only hope that when it happens, the rest of us will have the will and the wisdom to deal with them properly."?-Journal of Socio-Economics ?Gupta points the way to further comparative research that contrasts policies that have succeded with approaches that failed. The ethical, legal, and political failures are so well documented that the authors' significant contribution should inspire renewed efforts to prevent mass murder?-Terrorism and Political Violence ?This is a very substantial work, of such a rich character that no single review can adequately capture it....This is the best social science work I've read in more than a decade.?-International Relations "ÝT¨he book's most important contribution is its powerful presentation of how imperative and profitable it is to study collective identities and violence from new, interdisciplinary angles....ÝG¨upta wrote with striking clairvoyance before 11 September: "judging from our past and based on current trends, it is highly probable that in the coming decades in many parts on the world, people will respond to the siren song of sociopaths like Jim Jones or demagogues like Radovan Karadzic, or Adolf Hitler. We can only hope that when it happens, the rest of us will have the will and the wisdom to deal with them properly.""-Journal of Socio-Economics "Gupta points the way to further comparative research that contrasts policies that have succeded with approaches that failed. The ethical, legal, and political failures are so well documented that the authors' significant contribution should inspire renewed efforts to prevent mass murder"-Terrorism and Political Violence "This is a very substantial work, of such a rich character that no single review can adequately capture it....This is the best social science work I've read in more than a decade."-International Relations "[T]he book's most important contribution is its powerful presentation of how imperative and profitable it is to study collective identities and violence from new, interdisciplinary angles....[G]upta wrote with striking clairvoyance before 11 September: "judging from our past and based on current trends, it is highly probable that in the coming decades in many parts on the world, people will respond to the siren song of sociopaths like Jim Jones or demagogues like Radovan Karadzic, or Adolf Hitler. We can only hope that when it happens, the rest of us will have the will and the wisdom to deal with them properly.""-Journal of Socio-Economics