Killing in the Name of Identity A Study of Bloody Conflicts

“Why do we kill ‘the other’?” Vamik D. Volkan offers a compelling, humane, and universal response to a central riddle of the human condition. In this far-reaching and timely book, Volkan explains the relationship between large-group identities and massive traumas and current events and conflicts around the world, including those related to the horrific attacks of 9/11. In the process, he takes the reader deep into the dark and vulnerable collective mind of ethnic, religious, cultural, and national group conflict. Through his eyes and words, we find ourselves looking into and making contact with the universal elements present in humanity and in ourselves that converge in producing the conditions for great human tragedies. Perhaps no one understands nor writes about large-group terror and violence in a more compassionate and profoundly instructive way.

Vamik D. Volkan, MD, is an emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Virginia. He is the author of numerous books, including The Need to Have Enemies and Allies, Bloodlines, and Blind Trust.