Abstract:
The central theme of this thesis is marginalization. Marginalization covers the
spectrum from mild forms of othering to extreme exteriorization. Particular
emphasis is placed on the latter. Death, extreme violence and inflicted suffering
are explored in relation to the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and
lives lived in conditions of abject poverty in the Alto de Cruzeiro in Northeast
Brazil. These case studies are explored at three levels. Firstly, the lives and
deaths of the exteriorized are examined. Secondly, those who marginalize
others are detailed. Thirdly, explanations of these processes are sought by
turning to sociological commentary.
It will be argued that extreme forms of systematic violence - genocide, torture
and indifference to gross human wastage - are central motifs of modernity. Yet
sociology, whose emergence and existence are intimately tied up with the
project of modernity, is not inclined to take such events seriously. Evil is
relegated to a residual category, the absence of good. Such occurrences then
appear as barbaric ruptures in the civilizing process. In consequence, there is no
need for critical engagement with those who find themselves (and those who
place them) beyond the social.
In opposition to mainstream sociology, this work takes evil seriously. Evil
needs to be drawn into our explanatory schemas. For this to happen it must first
be seen as a form of reflexive social action. In doing so, this work seeks to
contribute toward a sociology of evil, to bring ethical considerations in from
the discipline’s margins and to help make a moral sociology possible.