Humanising and dehumanising the other: ethnic conflict in Malaysia

The lack of research on humanising processes represents a missed opportunity, both theoretically and practically, because “perceiving the Other as human” is arguably an important precondition for establishing and maintaining harmonious and equitable relations between individuals and groups. We prese...

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Main Authors:	Christie, Daniel J., Noor, Noraini M.
Format:	Book Chapter
Language:	English
Published:	Springer International Publishing 2017
Subjects:	HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/57386/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/57386/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/57386/1/57386_Humanising%20and%20Dehumanising%20the%20Other.pdf

id	iium-57386
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-573862018-01-10T04:08:05Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/57386/ Humanising and dehumanising the other: ethnic conflict in Malaysia Christie, Daniel J. Noor, Noraini M. HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform The lack of research on humanising processes represents a missed opportunity, both theoretically and practically, because “perceiving the Other as human” is arguably an important precondition for establishing and maintaining harmonious and equitable relations between individuals and groups. We present research on patterns of humanisation and dehumanisation in the rhetoric of political elite in Malaysia, focusing on the societal divide between Malays and Chinese Malaysians. Using a coding scheme, we analysed two major Malaysian newspapers and identified general themes in which the Other was represented as machine-like or animalistic. The nature of dehumanising rhetoric varied by ethnicity, suggesting that the kinds of attributions that would be necessary to make the Other “more fully human” depend on the source and target of dehumanisation. Evidence of humanising rhetoric also was obtained when we used a coding scheme that conceptualised humanisation as the semantic opposite of dehumanisation. Some statements did not neatly fit the coding scheme but could be categorised into themes of equity, solidarity, and respect for differences. These emergent themes point to the potential of additional qualities of humanisation that may promote harmonious relations between individuals and groups and underscore the usefulness of a grounded approach that takes into account varying geohistorical contexts in order to further clarify the semantic spaces occupied by humanising rhetoric. Springer International Publishing 2017 Book Chapter PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/57386/1/57386_Humanising%20and%20Dehumanising%20the%20Other.pdf Christie, Daniel J. and Noor, Noraini M. (2017) Humanising and dehumanising the other: ethnic conflict in Malaysia. In: Enlarging the scope of peace psychology. Peace Psychology Book Series . Springer International Publishing, Switzerland, pp. 109-157. ISBN 978-3-319-45287-6 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-45289-0_7
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
topic	HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
spellingShingle	HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform Christie, Daniel J. Noor, Noraini M. Humanising and dehumanising the other: ethnic conflict in Malaysia
description	The lack of research on humanising processes represents a missed opportunity, both theoretically and practically, because “perceiving the Other as human” is arguably an important precondition for establishing and maintaining harmonious and equitable relations between individuals and groups. We present research on patterns of humanisation and dehumanisation in the rhetoric of political elite in Malaysia, focusing on the societal divide between Malays and Chinese Malaysians. Using a coding scheme, we analysed two major Malaysian newspapers and identified general themes in which the Other was represented as machine-like or animalistic. The nature of dehumanising rhetoric varied by ethnicity, suggesting that the kinds of attributions that would be necessary to make the Other “more fully human” depend on the source and target of dehumanisation. Evidence of humanising rhetoric also was obtained when we used a coding scheme that conceptualised humanisation as the semantic opposite of dehumanisation. Some statements did not neatly fit the coding scheme but could be categorised into themes of equity, solidarity, and respect for differences. These emergent themes point to the potential of additional qualities of humanisation that may promote harmonious relations between individuals and groups and underscore the usefulness of a grounded approach that takes into account varying geohistorical contexts in order to further clarify the semantic spaces occupied by humanising rhetoric.
format	Book Chapter
author	Christie, Daniel J. Noor, Noraini M.
author_facet	Christie, Daniel J. Noor, Noraini M.
author_sort	Christie, Daniel J.
title	Humanising and dehumanising the other: ethnic conflict in Malaysia
title_short	Humanising and dehumanising the other: ethnic conflict in Malaysia
title_full	Humanising and dehumanising the other: ethnic conflict in Malaysia
title_fullStr	Humanising and dehumanising the other: ethnic conflict in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed	Humanising and dehumanising the other: ethnic conflict in Malaysia
title_sort	humanising and dehumanising the other: ethnic conflict in malaysia
publisher	Springer International Publishing
publishDate	2017
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/57386/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/57386/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/57386/1/57386_Humanising%20and%20Dehumanising%20the%20Other.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T21:21:07Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T21:21:07Z
_version_	1777411888166993920

Humanising and dehumanising the other: ethnic conflict in Malaysia

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