Global Anger
BY LINDSAY IRVINE
The cold war is over, but tempers are flaring across the globe. Citizens resent big government, failed government, and repressive government. They resent loopholes for the rich, handouts for the poor, lack of opportunity, and taxes all around. Global anger is on the rise. Susan Tolchin, a professor of public policy in George Mason University’s School of Public Policy, is conducting research for a new book that will explore global anger and its roots.
Although her research for The Angry American provided Tolchin with a starting point—anger stems from psychology, history, and lost economic opportunity, and is compounded by modern communication—she notes that across the globe, anger takes “different forms according to [available] outlets.” Some nations and cultures are reacting against unique historical circumstances while others are confronting current tyrannies. She thinks that African anger stems in part from the disconnect between arbitrary imperialist political boundaries and tribal realities, that Islamic anger against the West may have roots in the change in cultural hegemony. After all, the Golden Age of Islam (CE 750–1250) did end just before the European Renaissance began (CE 1400–early 1500s). Baghdad was once a jewel of artistry and scientific learning; today, it is a bombed-out city run by a nation raised on Coca-Cola.
Political and religious leaders also encourage and manipulate popular anger to further their own ambition or to maintain the crumbling status quo. The Egyptian government, for example, clamps down on antigovernment activities, but it tacitly approves protests directed against the United States and Israel. According to Tolchin, the United States is frequently demonized as public enemy number one as leaders elsewhere attempt to divert criticism away from their own failings.
Tolchin asserts that anger is a powerful emotion that can trigger radical change. “[It] is not an inherently negative or destructive force, but may appear positive or negative” according to one’s position relative to, and the severity of, an event. When citizens have access to open channels for substantive change, anger can be quite constructive. It is in closed societies, where citizens lack effective channels for change and emotional release, that anger becomes especially dangerous and revolutionary.
Tolchin will research and write this new book in collaboration with her husband, with whom she has written six previous books. Martin Tolchin, a retired journalist, reported for the New York Times and founded The Hill. Their review of relevant literature will span several different disciplines, including history, political science, and psychiatry. They have conducted interviews both locally, among George Mason University’s foreign student populations, and internationally, at a xenophobia conference and several scholarly gatherings. Rowman & Littlefield will publish Dr. Tolchin’s manuscript in 2006 as a resource for both students and the general public.
Lindsay Irvine is the programs and publications assistant at George Mason University’s Center for Global Studies (cgs.gmu.edu) and a PhD student in economics (http://economics.gmu.edu/).
