Translator: Katarina Ericson Reviewer: Cristina Bufi-Pöcksteiner
Thank you for being here in this artificial cave
that the good people of TEDxUCL have created for us here today.
Talking about the dark side is a bit like
being a death metal band at a festival.
You really want to be the last when it's dark
because when you want to sing about (Growl),
you don't really want to sing in the sunlight, right?
(Laughter)
Also I have a bit of an apology to make
to the person in the Darth Vader costume in the back row.
This is not about the Force today;
I'm so sorry.
That's a time for another talk.
Anyway, so, the dark side.
The idea for today's talk really goes back many, many years
when I was a budding sociologist reading a book about how to do
anthropological fieldwork, ethnographic fieldwork.
And how to write about studying other people.
The sentence was:
"Every version of an 'other' is always a construction of the 'self'."
And I found that really, somehow - that opened my eyes.
Not only to studying exotic peoples
in the Pacific islands,
but to our societies as well.
And then I did some more reading,
and of course there were some wiser and much more famous sociologists too,
who had come to a similar conclusion as well.
So -
why is the dark side, "the other," interesting?
Well, basically,
the sociological "axiom," if you will, is that to confirm an "identity,"
it's often more easy to say what we are not
than to say what we are.
So basically, we need "evil" to recognize "good."
Alright?
And symbolically, in the western world, this is what we are talking about.
This is St. Michael smiting down the devil.
And actually, I just noticed that not 100 metres that way
there will be a statue of the very same thing erected in time
whenever UCL gets to that.
(Laughter)
So -
But then the problem of evil from a sociological point of view -
remember: "sociological" point of view, not "philosophical" point of view -
is that evil is relative.
So, our conceptions of evil are different
depending on different cultures that we are
and also between different times.
Do you know, by the way,
what is the one thing that criminologists say
that all cultures of the world agree is a crime?
It's not taking another person's life, which was the first thought that I had.
Maybe some of you did as well.
It's stealing,
interestingly.
Anyway,
if we look back in time, that's another issue.
400 years ago,
404 years ago to be exact from the engraving on this picture,
this was a crime.
If you were suspected of kissing the devil's behind,
(Laughter)
a.k.a. being a witch, being a devil worshiper,
you would end up here.
Now, nowadays,
if you would be suspected of witchcraft,
the probability would be that not too many people would take it seriously,
and certainly,
not too many people would suggest that you be burned at the stake, right?
So, evil is relative.
But evil is also about the power of definition.
Let's look at this picture.
We see a happy couple in California
holding up a "Just Married" plaque.
It's not that far; it's not that long ago, certainly not 400 years,
when these people were thought of as bad as the witches of 400 years ago.
And this discussion is obviously still going on.
Quite a lot of people still think
that this represents evil, sin, and is an abomination.
So, the power -
Those who have the power to define evil
have the power to change the definitions of evil.
OK?
Now, the final point, or the final two points,
is that there's something peculiar about modernity,
and this applies to evil as well.
If there's one thing that sociologists agree,
almost all sociologists agree on,
it's that we are going through a phase of individualization,
rapid individualization.
This applies to evil as well.
The point is that the less we tend to see the devil behind all bad things,
the more we tend to see individuals behind bad things.
So, we have a fixation on monsters.
And here are probably the two best known monsters of the 20th century, for example.
Now, of course we have monsters in our time, as well.
(Laughter)
Right, sorry.
(Applause)
That is actually from my "Death of western popular music" lecture.
(Laughter)
Sorry.
Anyway -
But the point is that I wanted to make
is that our fixation on evil is interesting
from a sociological point of view for two reasons.
First of all,
when people do bad things,
people that do bad things are always, at least to an extent,
a product of their social conditions.
And the second point
is that our fixation on individuals, on monsters,
our focus on monsters can be problematic
because it can also mask the social reasons behind evil things.
And that is important.
So -
I just want to say a couple of words about sociology
because sociology is a bit different from -
studying society, studying arts,
is a bit different from studying, say, bacteria.
I'd like to think so, at least.
But it's different also in the sense that -
Yes, I'd like to think that, as a sociologist,
I might have, you know, better ways of talking about society.
Maybe more justified analyses of society.
But the good thing about sociology is that everyone can do it.
You all observe society as you go.
You all make analyses - if you want to call them that,
or hunches or whatever - about the people around you.
And also about "good" and "evil."
So, this thing about sociology's dark side is open for everyone.
So, let me just wrap up.
Four things.
First, we need "evil" to recognize "good."
To confirm an identity, it's often easier
to say what we are not than what we are.
Secondly,
evil is relative, and it has to do with power.
People who have the power to define evil
are the ones who can also change our definitions of evil.
Third,
evil -
People that do bad things are always products of their social conditions.
I know there are some people working with genes at UCL
that would probably dispute this,
but I would still hold my ground as a sociologist.
I say it to some extent,
but there is a point about being a member of a society.
And finally,
our fixation with monsters can be problematic,
because it can blind us to social reasons for evil things.
And those are the four reasons why we need a sociology of the dark side.
Thank you.
(Applause)