Restoring Civil Societies

Breakdowns in civil societies can be catalyzed by factors ranging from war and genocide to natural disaster, disease and economic downturns. Restoring Civil Societies examines social processes related to civic engagement in the wake of these societal ruptures. The authors show how crises in civil society can be both pervasive and localized, broad-based and limited to defined social sub-groups. Whatever their scale, Restoring Civil Societies identifies models that analyze the social psychology of crises in order to devise ways of re-activating civic engagement and safeguarding civil society. Focusing on these positive interventions, the authors identify a number of key strategies, ranging from the simplicity and directness of bystander interventions to the volunteer armies mobilized in the wake of natural disasters. They include collective action organized to redress systemic inequalities, and the vital healing role played by truth commissions in Rwanda and elsewhere. Restoring Civil Societies fills the gap between basic research on social issues and translation into social policies and programs-an area which, in light of current economic and social unrest, is more important now than ever.

Notes on Contributors ix Series Editor’s Preface xix 1 Introduction 1 Kai J. Jonas and Thomas A. Morton Part I Theoretical Approaches 17 2 Justice Sensitivity as Resource or Risk Factor in Civic Engagement 19 Anna Baumert, Nadine Thomas, and Manfred Schmitt 3 Regulating Psychological Threat: The Motivational Consequences of Threatening Contexts 38 Bastiaan T. Rutjens, Joop van der Pligt, and Frenk van Harreveld 4 Prosocial Behavior in the Context of Crisis 57 Kai J. Jonas 5 A Social Ecological Perspective on Risk and Resilience for Children and Political Violence: Implications for Restoring Civil Societies 78 E. Mark Cummings, Laura K. Taylor, and Christine E. Merrilees 6 Everyday Helping and Responses to Crises: A Model for Understanding Volunteerism 98 Allen M. Omoto, Mark Snyder, and Justin D. Hackett 7 Collective Action as Civic Engagement: Toward an Encompassing Psychological Perspective 119 Martijn van Zomeren, Tom Postmes, and Russell Spears 8 Intergroup Relations in Post-Conflict Contexts: How the Past Influences the Present (and Future) 135 John F. Dovidio, Samuel L. Gaertner, Ruth K. Ditlmann, and Tessa V. West 9 Humanizing Others Without Normalizing Harm: The Role of Human Concepts and Categories in Intergroup Reconciliation and Forgiveness 156 Thomas A. Morton, Matthew J. Hornsey, and Tom Postmes Part II Application and Intervention 175 10 Social Rituals and Collective Expression of Emotion After a Collective Trauma: Participation in Gacaca and Assimilation of the Rwandan Genocide 177 Bernard Rimé, Patrick Kanyangara, Dario Paez, and Vincent Yzerbyt 11 Competitive Victimhood Among Jewish and Palestinian Israelis Reflects Differential Threats to Their Identities: The Perspective of the Needs-Based Model 192 Nurit Shnabel and Masi Noor 12 Identity, Conflict, and the Experience of Trauma: The Social Psychology of Intervention and Engagement Following Political Violence 208 Orla T. Muldoon and Robert D. Lowe 13 Divided by a Common Language? Conceptualizing Identity, Discrimination, and Alienation 222 Leda M. Blackwood, Nick Hopkins, and Stephen D. Reicher 14 Civil Society Responses to the HIV/AIDS Crisis: The Role of Social Representations in Shaping Collective and Individual Action 237 Stefan St€urmer and Birte Siem 15 Opinion-Based Groups and the Restoration of Civil Society 250 Craig McGarty, Girish Lala, and Emma Thomas 16 Moral Courage Training Programs as a Means of Overcoming Societal Crises 265 Veronika Brandst€atter and Kai J. Jonas 17 Media as an Instrument for Reconstructing Communities Following Conflict 284 Elizabeth Levy Paluck Index 299