You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
2020 has been an unparalleled year in terms of shared political and societal trauma. The destruction brought about by the coronavirus pandemic has revealed problematic sociopolitical dynamics around the world – for example, inequalities in mortality rates depending on ethnicity and socioeconomic status. In the USA, the killings of black citizens by police have portrayed even more strongly existing racial disparities. The persistent increase of dictatorial or authoritarian leaders in many places in the world in recent years (Turkey, the USA, the UK, Brazil, Poland, the Philippines, Hungary, India, Israel, China, etc.) as well as the constant migration crises within the context of increasing global economic decline have created devastation amidst the ongoing pandemic. Kennedy’s book on tolerance is extremely relevant in the current context. Having reviewed his preceding book, Psychic Home, an internalized psychological structure that determines our sense of home and self, I felt that Kennedy continues to explore similar themes, such as identity and belonging.
While reviewing this book, I frequently found myself questioning why the author named his book based on a concept that he is critical of. In the narrow sense, Kennedy defines tolerance as “putting up with a person, activity, idea or organization of which or whom one does not really approve” (46). The thorn wire image on the cover of the book seems to complement this description. Kennedy points out that there is a huge literature on this concept using a social, political and legal lens, but not much from a psychological angle. Perhaps he did not want to introduce new terminology when there is already an established lexicon on the subject. Or perhaps he wanted to highlight our natural difficulties with acceptance. As will be discussed, Kennedy explores various forms of fears in relation to strangers that create discomfort and intolerance in people, which makes him conclude that strangers “may just about be tolera