The case for and causes of intraminority solidarity in support for reparations: Evidence from community and student samples in Canada

In three studies, we examined how racial/ethnic majority (i.e., White) and non-Indigenous minority participants in Canada responded to reparations for Indigenous peoples in Canada. Our goal was to understand whether and why there may be intraminority solidarity in this context. In Study 1, with a large, national survey (N = 1,947), we examined the extent to which participants agreed the government should be responsible for addressing human rights violations committed by previous governments as well as whether the government has done enough to address the wrongs committed against Indigenous peoples in Canada. With a sample of undergraduate students in Study 2 (N = 144) and another community sample in Study 3 (N = 233), we examined possible mediators of the relationship between ethnic status and support for reparations. Taken together, the results of three studies suggest that, compared to White majority Canadians, non-Indigenous minority Canadians were more supportive of providing reparations to Indigenous peoples through a complex chain of collective victimhood, inclusive victim consciousness, continued victim suffering, and solidarity.

Inclusivity of past collective trauma and its implications for current intractable conflict: The mediating role of moral lessons

How are perceptions of past collective trauma related to moral lessons derived, and how are those in turn associated with conflict-related policy preferences of those presently involved in intractable conflict? We hypothesized that inclusive conceptions of past trauma will be positively associated with moral obligations and negatively with moral entitlement, and that moral obligations will be positively associated with humanitarian policies and negatively with militaristic policies, while moral entitlement will be positively associated with militaristic policies and negatively with humanitarian policies. In a cross-sectional study with a representative sample of Jewish Israelis (N = 504), moral obligations mediated the association between higher inclusivity of past collective trauma and humanitarian policy support, while moral entitlement mediated between lower inclusivity and increased militant policy support. Inclusive perceptions of past trauma and its moral lessons may play a critical role in advancing conflict resolution in intractable conflicts settings unrelated to the initial trauma.

Threats to human rights: A general review

It has been seventy years since signing the Declaration of Human Rights, yet human right violations are still happening across the globe. This review asks the question – what is the impact of perceived threat on changing support for human rights into support for not-all-humans’ rights? In approaching human rights violations with a four-level model – institutions, cultures, groups, and individuals –, issues of capabilities, historical emotions, connectedness, and personality emerge. At the heart of these is the impact perceived threat has at each level within each issue. Limitations of current work, disagreements across the literature, and future directions are discussed.