Newsletter Nr. 5 (September 2005, subsequent to our 5th Conference, our Berlin Conference - please see also our Conference Notes)
By Evelin Lindner, Hameln (September 2005)
and the participants of our conference (September/November 2005)
Contents
• Thanks!
• What Our Workshops Attempt to Achieve
• Plans for Action
• Costa Rica
• Book on Violent Conflict and Humiliation
• Business
• Agent
• Research
• Education
• Email List
• Funding and Legal Status
• Background Reflections
• Our Research Does NOT Condone Violence or Terrorism
• Leadership: Selfless | Authority | Creativity | Evelin's Finances
• Walk the Talk
• Glass Half Full
• Old Methods
• Reference to Research on Two Theories of Intelligence
• Ubuntu
• More References
• Reactions Subsequent to Our Conference
• Welcome Again!
Dear Participants of our 5th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies in Berlin in 2005, 15th -17th September, 2005!
Dear Friends!
We had a wonderful conference in Berlin! It was entitled: 5th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies in Berlin, 'Beyond Humiliation: Encouraging Human Dignity in the Lives and Work of All People', 15th -17th September, 2005!
Please see:
• Pictures of our conference from Evelin's camera
• Pictures of our conference from Linda's camera
Please read in this newsletter more about how this conference evolved. Please read also our conference notes, taken by Becca and edited by Christine!
Thanks!
May I express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to all of you who joined our 5th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies in Berlin, 'Beyond Humiliation: Encouraging Human Dignity in the Lives and Work of All People', 15th -17th September, 2005! You ALL made our conference a unique and extremely exiting experience! As after our previous conferences, I felt as if I went through a hurricane, so many creative contributions 'swirled' through our workshop! I feel that I can hardly think a clear thought just now! Please see here some pictures of the conference from my camera!
Our conference was a closed conference. We could have had many more participants and unfortunately had to say 'no' to many of you who wrote to us and wished to participate. We would like to express our regret to all of you who did not have the chance to participate. We will try to broaden our activities (and resources!) in the future! Please bear with us and give us your support so that we can grow in a constructive way!
I would like to thank our amazing hosts, Eric Van Grasdorff and the Heinrich Böll Stiftung. Eric gave us all the feeling of being VIP guests! He gave everybody a 'red carpet' treatment! And the meeting rooms that the Heinrich Böll Stiftung allowed us to use where more than great. The location of our public event on Saturday 'on the roofs of Berlin' was extremely impressive.
Please let me express special thanks to Maya, Christine Locher, and Corinna Gayer for supporting Eric in his preparations! Warm thanks also to Rebecca Klein who, as always, took notes during the entire conference, to everybody's amazement as to how she manages to get such an overwhelming work done so wonderfully. Our warmest thanks also to Linda Hartling and Donald Klein for setting the frame of appreciative inquiry. Our dear thanks also to our moderators Judith Thompson, Rick Slaven, who were so kind as to stand in for two Round Tables, 1 & 2! And our warm thanks to Miriam Marton, Ana Ljubinkovic, Jean-Damascène Gasanabo and Christine Locher for moderating Round Tabe 3 and 4! And our dear gratitude to Donald Klein for facilitating our Open Space Session!
Linda Hartling, Rick Slaven, and Donald Klein donated 1000 USD to our workshop so as to make it possible. Our dearest thanks to them!
What Our Conferences Attempt to Achieve
As you all know, our conferences and workshops are very innovative in that they attempt to build bridges and open new horizons. We wish to make research relevant for practice and vice versa. Bridge-building and opening-new-horizons is difficult, by definition, and requires all of us to learn how to 'walk the talk'. What is wasted time for some of us, is the most interesting part of the conference for others, and the other way round. While some wish to concentrate on academic debate, others wish to build the value base of our network or the organisational structure of our group. We all need to stretch ourselves. And, even if this is difficult, it is necessary, we believe. People are often compartmentalised in isolated realms, for example in academic disciplines (literally 'disciplining' their members), or in academics and practitioners. Often different languages are spoken to an extent that we do not learn from each other. We wish to make all aware that turfs, though often staunchly defended, may at times also stultify potential mutual fertilization. Academics would be surprised, for example, if they knew how much research is carried out by practitioners, and how much they could indeed learn from practitioners. We would like to invite both – academics and practitioners – into something of a Third Room where we meet as equals who wish to jointly draw maximum use of the efforts we all invest.
Plans for Action
Costa Rica
Our 7th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, will kindly be convened and organised by Victoria C. Fontan in September 6-9, 2006, in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Book on Violent Conflict and Humiliation
Victoria C. Fontan has kindly taken upon her the task of developing an edited book on Violent Conflict and Humiliation (with the help of Linda Hartling, Arie Nadler, and Evelin Lindner) with the contributions of the participants of our Workshops on Humiliation and Violent Conflict in 2004 and 2005 in NY. Victoria reported on the progress of this project. Victoria is the Director of the International Peace Studies Program at the United Nations University for Peace in San Jose, Costa Rica, since 2005. As a Fellow to the Iraq Project at the CICR in Columbia University, Victoria is in charge of developing a permanent Conflict Resolution curriculum in northern Iraqi universities.
Business
Emmanuel Ndahimana led an initiative, in the 'Open Space' section of our conference, to build a business branch for Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, in cooperation with Linda Hartling, Rick Slaven, and Victoria Fontan.
Prior to our 'Open Space' activity, Emmanuel shared with me his ideas of a business-oriented application of HumanDHS's ideas. I encouraged him to propose this topic in the Open Space. His ideas are in line with long-term plans by HumanDHS. HumanDHS wishes to build bridges between academia and practice, with the corporate world as important player. Since 1995, I am part of a network of consultants to the corporate sector in Norway, please see also Ragnhild Grødal. In 2001, I have developed a project entitled Humiliation, Human Rights and Global Corporate Responsibility. In HumanDHS's Global Advisory Board, we have several members, who are building bridges with the corporate sector, please see, for example, apart from Ragnhild Grødal, also Heidi von Weltzien Høivik. See also our World Business for Equal Dignity project in our Intervention Agenda. Several other projects in our Intervention Agenda aim at using business approaches to fund our research, please see our Interventions page and, among others, our World Clothes for Equal Dignity project, World Architecture for Equal Dignity project, World Art for Equal Dignity project, World Furniture for Equal Dignity project, or our World Design for Equal Dignity project.
Agent
Linda suggested that we need an agent for our work, for example for Victoria, Evelin and others.
Research
• Evelin and Paul Stokes presented the state-of-affairs of the Terrorism & Humiliation and Refugees and & Humiliation projects, both in the 'Open Space' and later the same day.
Evelin had a meeting at the United Nations University in Tokyo (UNU) on 21st July 2004 and subsequently prepared a proposal for an edited book on humiliation. She went through the HumanDHS's Global Advisory Board's members list and envisaged what each member of the Board would be able to contribute as conceptual chapter.
After Evelin's second meeting at UNU (3rd March 2005), HumanDHS was encouraged to build a larger empirical approach, and upon discussing with Paul, Evelin sent out a call for young scholars. Thanks to the support of our Global Advisory Board, the response was very rich. She collected and selected the incoming replies and built two proposals for edited books (Terrorism & Humiliation, and Refugees & Humiliation) with an introduction. The edited-books entail two parts: the first part contains conceptual chapters written by senior experts versed in the topic of humiliation, and the second part comprises case studies by faculty members who guide research by younger scholars (transdisciplinary, from all parts of the world, gender-balanced).
Paul became active subsequent to this phase. He took Evelin's work and changed the format insofar as he did not use the edited book format but a project proposal format where only the case studies were included, with an introduction in large parts written by Paul. Both, the edited book version and the proposal version of the Terrorism & Humiliation and Refugees & Humiliation projects were subsequently submitted to UNU (between June and September 2005) and met UNU's interest.
The next step is to negotiate with UNU and with funders with respect to assembling the funding packages.
• Vidar Vambheim led a discussion, within the 'Open Space' section, on the conceptual and methodological aspects of doing research on humiliation.
Education
Donald Klein was delighted to hear about Victoria's activities with regard to a 'Tool Kit', drawing upon workshops and seminars.
Email List
The idea was aired that it would be beneficial to have a button on our website, where people could click who wish to be on our email list.
Funding and Legal Status
• The idea was aired that it would be beneficial to have a possibilty on our internet site for interested people to click and provide financial support to HumanDHS.
• With the most generous help of Linda Hartling and Rick Slaven, we will soon have a non-for-profit organisation in NY. Victoria proposed that she could oversee an account for HumanDHS in Costa Rica and Paul suggested the same for Dublin.
• We need a fund-raiser! Please, if you love working with fund-raising, come forward! We need to create funding for our research, for example, for our Terrorism & Humiliation, and Refugees & Humiliation projects and for scholarships for other doctoral projects. We need also to build a funding base for our entire network. We envisage to auction away art (Peter Max most kindly offers is some of his art) and we wish to invite some of our Intervention projects, such as our World Clothes for Equal Dignity project, to contribute to creating funding for our work. Furthermore, the new business branch envisaged by Emmanuel, Linda and Rick, will need to be linked to our non-for-profit segments!
• Apart from this idea, we discussed other ways of building a financial basis for our work.
I personally react rather aversive when organisations approach me with 'average' methods for obtaining funds. I agree with Paul Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson (2000, see also our Mission Statement and Rationale for our Intervention Agenda). They warn people like us, who wish to break new ground (Ray and Anderson coined the term 'Cultural Creatives'), against turning to 'experts' for 'expert' approaches such as direct mail marketing, public relations, advertising, or infomercials made to broadcast on cable TV. Ray and Anderson ask why Cultural Creatives might be tempted to do that and explain: 'Because they feel helpless. Because as children of Modernism, they turn things over to experts, who say, 'This is how it's done. You want to reach a lot of people? Then do it this way'. At that moment, the automatism of modern culture takes over. The process is a form of unconsciousness, running on rails and following standard procedures'.
I very much resonate with Ray and Anderson as to their analysis of the effect of traditional 'expert' approaches: 'How does this affect Cultural Creatives who receive the direct mail? The same way they've been affected since the 1970s, when national good cause sent them direct mail soliciting contributions. Too many direct mail pieces from good causes produce a vague sense of betrayal. Whatever initial connection or interest they felt slowly diminishes, along with the hope that what they care about will be addressed honestly. The genuine connection, the sense of being recognised as a member of a shared community, is lost' (this text is taken from Paul Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson, The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World, New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, 2000, pages 233-234, with their kind permission).
We need to foster a genuine connection with our supporters, a sense of being recognised as a member of a shared community. We need to gain trust. Our website, our publications, and our conferences are all part of this process. Robert Fuller shared with us last year how he worked for a number of years until he was approached by funders who recognised the sincerity and quality of his dedication.
Linda Hartling kindly adds (21st September 2005):
I particularly appreciated your observations related to gaining wider
support: 'We need to foster a genuine connection with our supporters, a sense of being recognised as a member of a shared community'. This so true. I don't think we want to gain support in conventional, fundraising ways; we want to create community.
Evelin Lindner adds (6th October 2005):
I personally feel humiliated, demeaned, even dehumanised when I witness that relationships are framed in too utilitarian ways à la 'you give me money and I love you'. Some days ago, I discussed this with Reidar Ommundsen, my academic advisor for my doctorate that I defended in 2001 in Oslo. We mused over the possible results, e.g. that sex with our partners should be paid for by the health insurance, if we followed this logic: 'You give me sex and thus health, and you get paid by my health insurance...'. Reidar was reflecting on how social psychology would conceptualize my way of depending on a global network of friends and we agreed that the literature of 'supportive relationships' is too utilitarian. I personally do NOT foreground SUPPORT from my friends. I guess, if I did that, there would be none of that. I wish to forge deep mutual relationships that are independent of support. Support is secondary, a by-product of a deeper, broader, and more existential relationship.
There is an interesting link from this discussion to economy. During my years in Egypt, I used to study the bazar. Tourists from Europe or America would not understand that bargaining in Egypt does not have money (or the price of items) at its core, but relationship. The tourists who came, often displayed a kind of tunnel vision with money at the centre of their focus, while Egyptians pitied them for their lack of humanity. Many Egyptians are master psychologists, trained already as children, and, when tourists entered their shops, the Egyptian shop owners often attempted to link up with the entire person visiting their shop, not just their portemonnaies. It was fascinating to observe the unfolding situation, which usually exposed the relational immaturity and lack of skill on the part of the tourists and showed the rich psychological knowledge-base that the Egyptian custom of relationship-building entails. Thus, individualistic monetary societies, with all their advantages, may foster weak relational skills, a tendency that I, in my personal life, try to counter.
Background Reflections
Our Research Does NOT Condone Violence or Terrorism
The fear has been aired that we condone violence or terrorism through our work. Please see our Index page, where we write the following: 'Many reject research on 'evil' as naïve appeasement. This is not our view. We believe that 'understanding' and 'condoning' ought not be conflated. Nelson Mandela showed the world that humiliation does not automatically lead to mayhem. His example attests to the constructive ways out of humiliation that merit to be studied and promoted. We wish to learn from those constructive elements in Mandela-like or Gandhi-like approaches (plesae note that we are aware of the various criticisms that may be aimed at Mandela or Gandhi) - for example, Mandela could have instigated a genocide of the white elite, yet he did not'.
In my writing, I discuss Muneo Yoshikawa (1987), who has developed a double-swing model that conceptualises how individuals, cultures and intercultural concepts can meet in constructive ways. The model is graphically presented as the infinity symbol or Möbius Strip. Muneo Yoshikawa draws upon two sources, firstly on Buber's concept of dialogue, secondly on the Buddhist logic of 'soku' (Yoshikawa, Muneo, 1987, The 'double swing' model of intercultural communication between the East and West, in Kincaid, D. Lawrence, Ed., Communication Theory: Eastern and Western Perspectives, pp. 319-329, San Diego, CA: Academic Press).
Yoshikawa's double-swing model relates also to what Peter A. Levine (1997) calls pendulation, the swinging back and forth between our own point of view and that of the other that allows us the potential for understanding each other (Levine, Peter A., 1997, Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma,Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books).
Successful pendulation can produce solidarity and social integration; without it, we have alienation and lack of social integration. Good attunement is achieved when pendulation is successful, when intersubjectivity is lived to its full potential. Pendulation produces interdependent relationships.
The double-swing model is suited to serving as a conceptual tool to disentangle understanding and condoning. Holding the view that we condone terrorism when we conceptualise perpetrators as human beings rather than 'mad monsters' means looping only in one side of the double swing. Terror can only be diminished through humanisation, which means carrying out double swings, and including shared humanity, as painful as it might be.
Leadership
Selfless Leadership
We wish to encourage 'selfless leadership' and aim at avoiding autocratic 'big-ego' styles in our group. Please see also our Who We Are page, our Newsletter 3 and our description of how our name evolved.
Problems with Authority
Traditional organisations are often structured in a top-down fashion of 'leaders' and 'followers'. Typically, 'followers', when they detect 'shortcomings' in the organisation, expect leaders to rectify these shortcomings. They build up frustration and even aggression when this does not happen. Some create 'factions' behind the back of the leaders of the group and some thrive on opposition to authority. Many a group of volunteers has been torn apart by such processes - particularly those members who wish to 'change the world' and derive their motivation from anger, risk venting this anger on their own leaders and colleagues.
In our network, we wish to develop different dynamics. Leadership in our group is not only selfless but also dispersed. Whoever takes up leadership positions in our network does not wish to confine our work through their personal limitations. We encourage all our members to formulate shortcomings not as shortcomings, but as challenges and reasons to step in and take over the tasks that are required to improve the situation.
For example, Evelin states: 'I have personal limitations. I do not wish to have these limitations restrict our work. I invite everybody who sees room for improvement to step in and take over the tasks that are necessary to bring about those improvements'.Linda Hartling kindly adds (21st September 2005):
I appreciated your discussion of leadership and expertise. This year, I think we moved closer to creating a sense of 'fluid leadership and expertise' within the group. I believe this encourages people to engage in the meeting as partners and co-creators of the experience. Furthermore, I think this allows more people to share their special knowledge and experience with 'relational confidence', confidence that others are encouraging and supporting their full participation.
Space for Creativity
Tackling frustration in constructive ways is perhaps the most difficult and most central skill necessary for the high-quality functioning of groups like ours. The most destructive way to manage frustration is to project it on friends and other group members. Approaches in the spirit of the following sentence are destructive: 'Thank you for what you are contributing, however, what you give is not enough, you ought to give more'.
Our network would seize to exist within a couple of weeks, if we were to wrap our being-together and our mutual interactions in sullen accusations, never thanking without a hitch, always expecting more. It is an irony that often, in groups such as ours, there is a tendency to exempt from accusations those people who do not help, while those who do help, are exposed to blame that they do not help enough.
I would like to encourage all members of our network to convey heartfelt gratitude for whatever support is offered to our work, without lamenting over what we do not receive and without accusing those who give of not giving enough. Every relationship, from marriage to child-parents relationships to group cohesion, can be destroyed with a 'never-enough strategy'. An atmosphere of fear is created that strangulates joy and creativity.
We wish to forge an open atmosphere, where everybody can contribute with what comes from their hearts, in freedom, without pressure. If a member of our group does not contribute with anything for 10 years and then with a great and unexpected idea which nobody even knew could be asked for - this is wonderful! Let us nurture space for breathing, space for the new, and not predefine all our needs - we might need something we do not yet know about. Always asking for specifics - which we sometimes need to do - narrows the space of opportunities prematurely. We wish to foster an atmosphere of freedom and mutual encouragement for creativity and out-of-the-box ideas, not narrow guilt-ridden hierarchies. Please see our Call for Creativity.
Evelin's Financial Situation
High expectations were aired as to our financial situation. Please see our Who We Are page for explanations. Evelin has adapted her personal life to the task of building the global HumanDHS network by living as a global citizen, supported by a global network of friends. This entails great personal sacrifices. She has received offers for full-time teaching positions at universities, however, she wishes to design her life in accordance with the need to build HumanDHS as a global group - 'problems have no passports, and we need solutions without passports as well' is her motto. She stands up for her global citizen life, even though not having a full-time employment compels her to live on an absolute minimum of financial resources, less than 10,000 USD per year. Flights and medical costs basically consume these funds and the situation requires her strictest discipline: no taxi, but public transport, no visits to restaurants, no memberships that entails fees anywhere, etc. - without her global network of friends and supporters hosting her, she would not be able to succeed in this life-design. From 2004 until summer 2005, half of the amount she had at her disposal was offered to Evelin, generously and kindly, by Ragnhild Nilsen Grødal, who, with this, intended to show her appreciation for HumanDHS and would like to encourage Evelin and the HumanDHS network to continue their work, inviting other sponsors to join in.
Evelin receives ca. 100 emails per day and invests around 5 hours per day in maintaining our website and develop our global network. The rest of her time she is writing (wishing to have more time for writing), meeting people for our network, and teaching (please see some pictures here that give your an impression).
Walk the Talk
We believe that it is important for all of us to walk the talk. We wish to invite people into our group who are willing and able to promote our mission with humility and in a cooperative relational spirit of mutual support and respect. Competitive and adversarial behavioral styles that draw their strength from dominating and humiliating others have no room in our work. Please see our Index page, our Who We Are page, our Newsletter 1, 2, and 3.
Glass Half Full
Related to 'walking-the-talk' is the 'glass-half-full' approach. We believe that lamenting only drains our energy - lamenting over whatever is 'missing' and whatever we have not yet accomplished. Lamenting makes it more difficult to conceptualise what is missing as a challenge, as a next step, which we have to undertake with enthusiasm, motivation and courage in a joint effort.
The perspective of 'appreciative inquiry' is therefore a useful frame of our work. Our HumanDHS efforts are not just about the work we do together, but also about HOW WE WORK TOGETHER. Please read An Appreciative Frame: Beginning a Dialogue on Human Dignity and Humiliation, that Linda has written for us in 2005.
Linda Hartling kindly adds (21st September 2005):
Although the 'glass is half full' view is far more hopeful, I have some
appreciation for the 'glass half empty' view because, at times, this view is very practical. It can help us see difficult realities and keep our feet on the ground. The 'glass half empty' perspective can bring to the forefront obstacles that could derail our efforts. Consequently, I am glad to have a few people who can bring 'glass half empty' concerns to our attention, BUT they need to be people who can move beyond lamenting and help us take action. Perhaps 'glass half empty' view is a problem when people get stuck in lamenting, rather than moving toward action???
Evelin responds (22nd September 2005):
And I can't agree more with what you write, dearest Linda!
Yes, I believe it is the lamenting that is destructive - not the clear analysis of whatever risks or shortcomings there might be. Lamenting is like throwing the energy out of the window that one needs to address what one laments about. I have observed that networks and groups often have members who invest lots of energy in lamenting - without turning the observed shortcomings into a motivation to develop positive action: Lamenting as main occupation so-to-speak, as a way to bond with other 'lamenters', as a way to build alternative 'power-bases' in the network rather than action that benefits the whole group, as a way to live out unresolved problems with authority, or a way to maintain a victim-identity in the face of adversity.
I am searching for caring ways to invite 'lamenters' into more constructive ways of applying their analysis. This topic links up to the themes of leadership, authority, and also the two theories theories of intelligence that we discussed as well (see further down for an explanation). I believe that people with a mastery orientation also tend to have a constructive non-lamenting action orientation. To my observation, people with ego-oriented performance goals tend to cover up for shortcomings as long as they are their own, and engage in lamenting when shortcomings of others are at stake.
Old Methods
May I repeat part of what I already addressed earlier, namely HOW we should promote our work. Please see our Mission Statement and Rationale for our Intervention Agenda for a discussion of methods that networks like us, who wish to break new ground (Ray and Anderson coined the term 'Cultural Creatives') may apply.
'The way it's done by experts' might be counterproductive for promoting the goals of groups such as HumanDHS. Old methods do not work for new goals and values. People being addressed with slick advertising in direct mail may lose interest in the contents of such advertising. 'The genuine connection, the sense of being recognized as a member of a shared community, is lost' (Ray and Anderson, 2000, p. 234).
We need to foster a genuine connection with our supporters, a sense of being recognised as a member of a shared community. We need to gain trust. Our website, our publications, and our meetings are all part of this process.
Linda Hartling kindly adds (21st September 2005):
I particularly appreciated your observations related to gaining wider
support: 'We need to foster a genuine connection with our supporters, a sense of being recognised as a member of a shared community'. This so true. I don't think we want to gain support in conventional, fundraising ways; we want to create community.
Reference to Research on Two Theories of Intelligence
We discussed self-esteem and whether high self-esteem or low self-esteem are more malignly susceptible for humiliation. Evelin reported on two kinds of beliefs as to intelligence and learning. Some believe that their intelligence is fixed (they adhere to an entity theory of intelligence), while others think that their intelligence is malleable (they adhere to an incremental theory of intelligence). Out of these two beliefs grow two kinds of goals, namely ego-oriented performance goals versus task-oriented learning-mastery goals. People with performance goals wish to look smart and avoid mistakes, in other words, they have an ego orientation and try to satisfy high expectations of others by performing well. Those with learning-mastery goals, on the other hand, desire to learn new things, even if they might get confused, make mistakes, and not look smart; in other words, they have an intrinsic motive towards achieving mastery in the task (Dweck, Mangels, and Good, 2004, p. 42, Pascual-Leone and Johnson, 2004, p. 222). Goal orientation theories thus make a means-ends distinction between learning and performance goal perspectives (Zimmerman and Schunk, 2004, p. 331; see also Dweck, 1998, Dweck 1999, Graham and Golan 1991, Köller 2000, Marsh and Köller 2003, Nicholls 1984, Pintrich 2000, Winne 2005).
The research results show that students with mastery goals are basically more successful, they 'are more likely to search for and to find successful transfer strategies than are those with concerns about validating their ability' (Dweck, Mangels, and Good 2004, p. 43). In extension, conflict will benefit from being approached with a task and not with an ego orientation.
Evelin hypothesises that people with a mastery orientation manage humiliation in profoundly more constructive ways than people with ego-oriented performance goals.
References:
Dweck, Carol S. (1999). Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
Dweck, Carol S., Mangels, Jennifer A., and Good, Catherine (2004). Motivational effects on attention, cognition, and performance. In Dai, David Yun and Sternberg, Robert J. (Eds.) , Motivation, Emotion, and Cognition: Integrative Perspectives on Intellectual Functioning and Development , pp. 41-56. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Graham, Sandra and Golan, Shari (1991). Motivational Influences on Cognition: Task Involvement, Ego Involvement, and Depth of Information Processing. In Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, pp. 187-194.
Köller, Olaf (2000). Goal orientations: Their impact on academic learning and their development during early adolescence. In Heckhausen, Jutta (Ed.) , Motivational Psychology of Human Development , pp. 129-142. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Marsh, Herbert W. and Köller, Olaf (2003). Bringing Together Two Theoretical Models of Relations Between Academic Self-Concept and Achievement. Greenwich, CT: Information Age.
Nicholls, John G. (1984). Achievement Motivation: Conceptions of Ability, Subjective Experiences, Task Choice, and Performance. In Psychological Review, 91, pp. 328-346.
Pascual-Leone, Juan and Johnson, Janice (2004). Affect, self-motivation, and cognitive development: A dialectical constructivist view. In Dai, David Yun and Sternberg, Robert J. (Eds.) , Motivation, Emotion, and Cognition: Integrative Perspectives on Intellectual Functioning and Development , pp. 197-235. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Pintrich, Paul R. (2000). Multiple Goals, Multiple Pathways: The Role of Goal Orientation in Learning and Achievement. In Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, pp. 544-555.
Winne, Philip H. (2005). Key Issues in Modeling and Applying Research on Self-Regulated Learning. In Applied Psychology: An International Review, 54, pp. 232-238.
Zimmerman, Barry J. and Schunk, Dale H. (2004). Self-regulating intellectual processes and outcomes: A social cognitive perspective. In Dai, David Yun and Sternberg, Robert J. (Eds.) , Motivation, Emotion, and Cognition: Integrative Perspectives on Intellectual Functioning and Development , pp. 323-349. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Ubuntu
Our friends from Rwanda, Jean-Damas and Emmanuel, explain to us the concept of Ubuntu. Linda kindly writes that this is a concept that has contributed to our theoretical thinking at the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute and she sends us this scanned photo from a magazine.
More References
The following books were mentioned during our conference:
Gobodo-Madikizela, Pumla (2003). A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Story of Forgiveness. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Douglas, Mary (1999). Implicit Meanings: Selected Essays in Anthropology. Second edition. London: Routledge.
Dower, John W. (1999). Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. New York, NY: Norton.
Hendrix, Harville (2001). Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples. New York, NY: Holt, Henry.
Horney, Karen (1969). Can Human Nature Change? New York: McGraw-Hill.
Margalit, Avishai (1996). The Decent Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Scheff, Thomas J. (1997). Emotions, the Social Bond and Human Reality. Part/Whole Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Viorst, Judith (1987). Necessary Losses: The Loves, Illusions, Dependencies and Impossible Expectations That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Grow. New York, NY: Fawcett Gold Medal.The following questions were kindly written down by Vidar Vambheim subsequent to our Public Event. His questions refer to Arie's presentation:
Vidar Vambheim (2005)
Questions in connection with Arie's presentation:
Arie reports that only projects that addressed basic needs (agriculture, etc.) survived when the last Intifada began. All projects that involved identity, did not survive.
Vidar asks: Can we think of educational projects which involve identity & self which work as well as the projects concerning agriculture, etc.? Can we think of co-educational projects which could help both, the self-feeling and self-esteem in both parties?
The following reflections were kindly sent in by email by Charlotte Brenk subsequent to our Public Event:
Charlotte Brenk (2005)
Humiliation in Intercultural Relations
Anregungen und Gedanken zur Konferenz vom Samstag, dem 17.9.2005.
Reactions Subsequent to Our Conference
(with the authors' permission; too personal sections are removed; listed chronologically)21.09.2005, Linda Hartling kindly wrote:
Dear Evelin,
Wow--It was tough to go back to my other work in the world. I miss the energy of our friends at our meeting and I miss you!
I think the newsletter looks terrific. You captured some key points that we want to remember and you elaborated on some additional points that I think are important.
...
Lots and lots of love,
Linda21.09.2005, Miriam Marton kindly wrote:
My dear Evelin:
I did get home safely and so did my luggage, albeit a day later than me.
I must tell you, the experience in Berlin was for me a life-altering experience. I am still processing everything but realized that last night as I was telling my middle son about the conference. I am so in awe of your work, the group's work, and hope to become a larger contributer...
I am trying to arrange everything so that I will be in New York. This week, I am back to work, so I will take a look at the website probably this weekend.
Again, I so appreciate all of your work and the days in Berlin. Looking so forward to seeing you again!!
Miriam H. Marton20.09.2005, Mari Blikom kindly wrote:
Kjære Evelin!
Takk for sist, det var et veldig spennende og lærerikt møte som jeg er
utrolig takknemmelig for at jeg fikk være med på!
Håper du har fått hvilt ut siden konferansen!
Klem fra Mari21.09.2005, Jörg Calliess wrote:
Besten Dank, liebe Evelin, noch mal fuer die Einladung zu der spannenden Tagung, von der ich viel mitgenommen habe! Ganz gerne werde ich auch weiter mitarbeiten... Leider koennte es aber etwas schwierig werden, zu Tagungen zu reisen, wenn ich nicht mehr 'im Dienst' bin. Na, mal sehen. Gelegentlich schicke ich noch den Text von Senghaas, wenn ich denn eine englische Version auftreiben kann!
Mit allen guten Wuenschen fuer Dich und Deine Arbeit gruesst Dich ganz herzlich
Dein Joerg21.09.2005, Vidar Vambheim kindly wrote:
Dear Evelin,
Thanks a lot, Evelin (and also for a wonderful conference).
Best regards from
Vidar22.09.2005, Pandora Hopkins kindly wrote:
Hi Evelin!
The avenue for cross-cultural thought that you have created is remarkable; never have I been to a conference that presented so many opportunities for real communication amongst participants. I believe your organization should be considered an artwork in itself and am indeed proud to be part of it.
I look forward to joining you again in Costa Rica next year. Meanwhile, take a few days off. You've earned it!
All very best wishes from
pandi22.09.2005, Magnus Haavelsrud kindly wrote:
Thank you for a very good meeting. It was good to see how social psychologists practice what they preach as well. And you have gathered a beautiful bouquet of people in Berlin. I do not think I would propose amendments to your reports...
Magnus22.09.2005, Eric Van Grasdorff kindly wrote:
dear evelin, thanks so much for your kind words, they feel so good! it was a pleasure for me to have everybody here... i am now in paris ... and will write you on the points you mentioned when i am back, ok?
much love, eric22.09.2005, Samir Basta kindly wrote:
Thank you for your kind message and all the news... I am more and more amazed at your capacity to transmit so much information, so quickly, so thoroughly, so thoughtfully..
I do regret not joining you all in Berlin..But I really was not well.I am still under all sorts of treatments. My back is better some days, worse on others..
As to NY, I am supposed to visit Egypt in December ..; I will however, hopefully, join you all in Costa Rica next year.
Dear Evelin, please take care of yourself...don't push yourself too hard and try to get some lazy holidays...Yes, LAZY !!
A big hug,
Samir22.09.2005, Ana Ljubinkovic kindly wrote:
Dearest Evelin,
I am glad to see that you are fine and hopefully having some rest at your parents house! I would like to thank you for the wonderful and very, very inspiring meeting, especially for your talk on the first day, it was enlightening! Thank you so much for placing me in the refugees and humiliation project! I have actually just arrived to Nairobi and tomorrow morning I am heading to the Kenyan-Somali border into the refugee camps. I am eager to start my research for CARE International which I will combine with the research on the refugees and humiliation. As I am in the CARE office at the moment and I am not confortable with using computer for too long, I will send you the research summary once I arrive in the refugee camps, I hope that is fine for you. I will also look at the guidelines right now...
Thank you once again for everything!
Love,
Ana23.09.2005, Hilarie Roseman kindly wrote:
I have read your material on the Berlin meeting. I was in the process of finding email addresses of people in Australia who might give you some money, if you possibly allowed them to get a world 'place' for their particular research, when I was tired and went to sleep. This morning I am thinking in a different way. Mother Mary McKillop, who is to be Austrlaia's first saint, put together a community of women that is still operating, when most others have failed. She believed in equal dignity, and independance. She was excommunicated because she did not want to be at the beck and call of the local bishop. I see that you are at the moment, in a way, moving in the same direction. YOu want community. Community in Australia was always very deeply located in the local comunity, but there was the overall community looking after the local community. Mary MacKillop was all the time visiting her local communites all over Austrlia. I see you doing this. You, however, have taken on the world. 'Mary MacKillop gives us a chance to contemplate a whollyAustralian mystery, to revive a dormant depth in our culture. She found that goodness can be the most efficient and effective of all forms of pragmatism. There's the paradox. Goodness was a means as well as an end. Goodness of being has a magnetic attraction which brought around her such...response that she could create an organisation which attacked an Australian brand of poverty and an Australian brand of despair and enabled her to conquer an Australian form of social rigidity which a world of BHP management executives could not hope to equal...She pioneered ecumenical Christianity in a sectarian age, enlightened social welfare for women in an age of savage moral philistinism and transmitted a hope and personal pride to the rural poor in every corner of Australia'. Sometimes she responded directly to people's needs, at other times she simply stood with those who were powerless. Most of the time she had to go begging for the money to support the schools which she instituted all over Austrlaia. I will pray that this pragmatic women will show you the way to do in the world which she did in Australia. Remember always this thought, she was always independent...she was not tied to the local scene. However, on the other hand, her people were always deeply entrenched in the local scene. A paradox! It meant that no one on the local scene could use her people for their own ends. You do not have to reply to this. Put it aside and read it when you are not busy. Hilarie
Asked for her permission to post her message, Hilarie replies: Well Evelin I wrote it from my heart for you, but I can see no reason why you should not publish it. People might begin to talk, but perhaps that is what will help you. love Hilarie23.09.2005, Judith Thompson kindly wrote:
Evelin: I miss you too! The meeting was wonderful and I am grateful to you for the spirit you carry and bring! Thank you.
More will come soon!23.09.2005, Jean-Damascène Gasanabo kindly wrote:
Dear Evelin,
I was lovely to see you again in Berlin after 6 years. I am all the time impressed by your work, your energy and the person who you are...
Thank you very much for to report. It is amasing you have done a lot of work. Congratulations for having done this in only few days. As always, I am impressed. Bravo!
I read the report and I found it very comptete. I do not have any thing to add.
Today, Eric, Don and Becca who are now in Paris came to see me at UNESCO and we had lunch together ici. It was nice to see them again.
I wish you a wonderful week-end and a good time in Berlin or everywhere you are.
Fond regards,
Damas24.09.2005, Thomas Daffern kindly wrote:
Dear Evelin,
Thanks for your amazing pulling together of the berlin event I greatly enjoyed it and found it very moving
Loved meeting everyone ...
Enjoy a rest
Thomas24.09.2005, George Woods, MD, kindly wrote:
Evelin and all,
I would like to invite all of you to participate in the next International Academy of Psychiatry and the Law conference, in Padua, Italy, July 25-30, 2007. We have plenty of time to organize a plenary on Humiliation, and I think it would be wonderful!
George Woods27.09.2005, Varda Mühlbauer kindly wrote:
Dear Evelin
Thank you for setting up an extremely important project of advancing international culture of Human Dignity and assembling a group of capable and dedicated people.
Personally, it was very stimulating, both intellectually and emotionally. Berlin was an outstanding choice! ...
It feels good to be part of a group which aspires to advance concepts and behavioral codes for a better world.
Arik sends his warm regards
Varda04.10.2005, Alicia Cabezudo kindly wrote:
Dear Evelin,
This is an extraordinary report, great photos and I will say . . . such a dynamic and good meeting, isn't it?
Thanks for all the information you sent which is very useful for me not being there. I have a complete picture now! .
All the best for All,
Alicia Cabezudo22.10.2005, Corinna Carmen Gayer kindly wrote:
Dearest Evelin, [...]
I am still impressed from our meeting, even though during the 'official' parts I decided to listen more than to participate. But during the informal time I had some very inspiring conversations with the other participants and am in contact with some of them. I really enjoyed being there and I will do everything possible to be able to participate in our next meeting in Costa Rica and hopefully contribute with some first insights of the research in Israel and Palestine. :-)
Evelin, your presentation at the beginning of our meeting touched me very much. Particularly what you said about being or identifying myself as 'german' in other countries. Even though not coming from a family with migration or refugee background, I always hesitate to say where I am coming from and sometimes even feel bad about it. Being confronted with going to Israel and the history of these two countries these uncomfortable or in a way helpless feeling became even more present. And it is not only the knowledge about what happened, it seems to be a feeling which is coming from deep inside and is even hard to describe so far....
Dearest Evelin, I send you lot of warm greetings from a pretty cold Berlin,
CorinnaEvelin replied to Corinna:
As to national identity, I feel that it is not peace-inducing if we define the essence of our person to be national, and this applies to people from Germany as much as to all others. Therefore, I refuse to say sentences that entail the word 'am' connected with local identities. I limit the use of the sentence of 'I am' to 'I am a living creature, a human being, a member of the family of humankind'. I would neither say 'I am a woman'. All these characteristics are, in my view, details that do not merit to define our essence. They are secondary.
By distancing myself from national identity, I do not wish to disengage from responsibility. On the contrary, I accept more responsibility. I identify as much with German history as with Russian history or any history of the planet. I feel responsible for not repeating what Stalin did, or Hitler, or any other such dictator. I define Russian history to be as much my history as Japanese or German history: my history is all humankind's history and I wish to carry the shame and disgust for the destruction that all humankind perpetrated and the responsibility for doing something constructive about it. The world believes that Germans during World War II ought to have stood up and not stood by when Jews were transported away. 6 million people died in the Holocaust. Today, 12 million children die each year before they are 5 years old, of preventable diseases and poverty. I identify with that. I do not want to stand by. And in order to stand up, I have to identify with all humankind primarily and put all 'local' identities but on place two ...!
Only when treated as secondary to our shared humanity, can 'local' identities flourish beningly, I believe, and I indeed wish them to flourish more, not less. In other words, I wish to strengthen both, global and local identities, however, in my view, this can only have benign effects when it is clear that our shared humanity, our common mindset of humility, and our mutual respect for equal dignity for all trumps the potential for divisiveness that is entailed in diversity.
Welcome Again!
I would like to end this newsletter by thanking you again for all the wonderful mutual support. I think there was nobody who did not contribute generously, therefore let me give my warmest thanks to ALL OF US! I very much look forward to our next conferences in NY in December 2005 and in Costa Rica in 2006!
Evelin, Hameln, September 2005
2003 – present, Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies