Inventing the Enemy and Other Occasional Writings — Why Societies Need an Other
What if an enemy is sometimes not merely discovered, but socially constructed?
Welcome to Crisis in Perception, where we examine the systems shaping our world.
Using Inventing the Enemy and Other Occasional Writings by Umberto Eco as our lens, this Deep Dive centers on the title essay and examines how communities can define their own identity by constructing an opposing Other.
Eco traces a recurring historical pattern in which differences of culture, religion, language, appearance, behavior, illness, or social position become exaggerated into signs of moral corruption or danger. Once repeated…
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