Political Consequences of Silenced Guilt

In: Constellations: an international journal of critical and democratic theory, Band 5, Heft 4, S. 472-491

Abstract

Drawing on theoretical reflections & empirical evidence, it is argued that the silencing of guilt in a democracy can be damaging because it (1) prevents the formation of a motivating consensus based on common values & (2) damages the psyches of perpetrators. Silencing of guilt is defined as a process by which the contradiction between actions & norms is left unclear such that one's personal responsibility &, thus, one's liberty is denied. Given that freedom & responsibility lie at the center of democratic political culture, the silencing of guilt threatens the very core of democracy, as has been the case with regard to National Socialism in Germany. The strongest impact of the silencing of guilt in this case has been on the family, where it has damaged trust between parents & children & inhibited the intergenerational transmission of democratic values. It is concluded that the example of the Nazi era can be generalized to other democratic cultures that are dealing with their own experience of the silencing of guilt. D. Ryfe