Blood Runs Thicker than Water

• Department of Political and Social Sciences

In the framework of the EUI Political Behaviour Colloquium, this seminar features a paper presentation by PhD researcher in the Department of Political and Social Sciences, Joe Kendall.

How do groups faced with information about historical perpetration of harmful acts respond? And to what extent do reparatory actions reflect real attitudinal shifts? 

This paper explores the extent to which the burden of ancestral crimes is likely to lead to either backlash or constructive reconciliation with the legacies of these crimes. It uses a novel experimental approach to address this question with regard to British involvement in the imperial slave trade. Within the context of national involvement in the slave trade, additional condemnation of one’s ancestors is likely to produce a degree of backlash, but also reduced levels of public racial prejudice. By contrast, an exoneration of one’s ancestors is more likely to result in reduced private racial prejudice. This suggests that whilst negative identity shocks may induce reparatory attitudes, such attitudes may reflect a desire to protect one’s self-image rather than a sincere change of beliefs. By contrast, positive identity shocks are more likely to encourage sincere attitudinal change.

The findings contribute to our understanding of how perpetrator groups reconcile with difficult histories in Britain and elsewhere, as well as demonstrating how the family can serve as a locus for the repression of collective guilt among perpetrator groups.

The speaker will be presenting on zoom. Participants can follow the talk from Seminar room 2, although space is restricted to a maximum of 14 people on a first-come, first-served basis. The talk will also be live-streamed and participants will receive the zoom link once registered.