Exploring how media, like storytellers throughout time, draw from myths — the age-old tales that confirm, deny, celebrate, degrade, create and eventually upend and destroy their societies.
In my upcoming book, I argue, sadly, that scapegoating, is why people come together and how people come together. Throughout the history of humankind, societies have defined themselves not only by who belongs — but by who does not belong. Inclusion is gained by exclusion. In these groups, personal identities are formed in, often passionate, opposition to others.
In our time, nations rely on scapegoating to draw boundaries between “us” and “them.” These nations now fracture along polarized lines of grievance and blame. Our media systems, from traditional media to social media, feed these fractures and can be understood as “networks of hate.”
Drawing primarily on the work of Kenneth Burke and René Girard, I find that scapegoating is not a social “malfunction,” not an aberration, but the essential way human groups are formed. Publication date: October 2026.
Updates and Observations
The book on scapegoating is finished. Scapegoating itself is never finished. I update thoughts on world events and scapegoat theory on LinkedIn and have begun to offer longer observations on Substack.
“The Forgotten War”
How Gaza and Israel Exemplify the Scapegoat Ritual
René Girard: A Prophet for Our Times