Reflections on Racism. In Commons, 2011-11-07.

The article is a translation of a talk by Cornelius Castoriadis, which was included in the book World in Fragments. The author refutes the view of racism as a feature of Western cultures alone. The chauvinistic policy of the USSR is cited as an argument for the universality of racism. The Old Testament is called the first written racist document. The key element of racism is shown to be the prohibition of likeness, addressed to the demonized Other. The author stresses the ambivalence of the psychological preconditions of racism: on the one hand, it is an inverted expression of self-love; on the other, a repressed self-hatred inherent in the psyche of every person. The author concludes that overcoming racism requires accepting the reality and absoluteness of our death.

Translated from Greek by Andrii Savenko for «Commons».