inseparability/slavery

From: wbarowy@attbi.com
Date: Sat Apr 13 2002 - 12:39:00 PDT


some reading relating to the topic of inseparability is
a scientific american article called "The Social
Psychology of Modern Slavery",

it's available online, and a compelling if lugubrious
grounding in the topic of inseparability and emergence.

http://www.sciam.com/2002/0402issue/0402bales.html

here's a passage:

"The psychology of the slave is mirrored by that of the
slaveholder. Slavery is not a simple matter of one
person holding another by force; it is an insidious
mutual dependence that is remarkably difficult for
slaveholder as well as slave to break out of. Branding
the slaveholder as pure evil may in some way comfort us,
but maintaining that definition becomes difficult when
one meets actual slave masters."

[...]

"Cultural norms have prepared these young women for
control and compliance. A girl will be told how her
parents will suffer if she does not cooperate and work
hard, how the debt is on her shoulders and must be
repaid. Thai sex roles are clearly defined, and women
are expected to be retiring, nonassertive and obedient--
as the women are repeatedly reminded. The pimps also
cite religion. The young women are encouraged to believe
that they must have committed terrible sins in a past
life to deserve their enslavement and abuse. They are
urged to accept this karmic debt, to come to terms with
it and to reconcile themselves to their fate.

To live in slavery, the young women often redefine their
bondage as a duty or a job or a form of penance. To
accept their role and the pimp's, they must try to
diminish their view of themselves as victims who have
been wronged. They must begin to see their enslavement
from the point of view of the slaveholder. At the time
of my visit, the women in Siri's brothel were at various
stages in this process of submission. Some were even
allowed to visit their families during holidays, for
they always came back."

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