Victimization from the perspective of social psychology: The contribution of Serge Moscovici

Résumé 0

The final, little-known publications of Serge Moscovici, on the subject of victimhood, are the subject of a presentation that reveals the thin mesh separating lived experience and scientific endeavor. For Moscovici, victimization is an ethical and historical question whose late formulation is supported by a youthful reflection about the social destiny of the Jews, supplemented by several works on minorities, the psychology of crowds and social thinking, leading to a theorization of phenomena linked to the persecution and exclusion of ethnic minorities, and to their emancipation. This approach allows a criticism to be made of social psychology perspectives, taking into account intergroup relationships using fragmentary cognitive processes and establishing a holistic process of social realities that have been observed since time immemorial, bringing renewed consideration of history and values in the analysis of victimhood phenomena. This approach insists on the role of social representations and social movements in the development and transformation of the images and relationships between victims and their persecutors.