Shared catastrophe briefly unites people across difference before giving way to division and reprisal

Evidence

In times of metropolitan crisis, chaos, and tragedy – New York immediately post-9/11, Bali following the nightclub bombing, Sumatra in the wake of the tsunami, the Madrid subway bombings in 2004, the London tube and bus bombings in 2005, followed by Sharm-el-Sheikh shortly after – civility and solidarity take hold at least temporarily, fueled by and reinforcing a fleeting humanity, the shared social tragedy drawing us momentarily into a commonality across difference. But the civility and commonality all too often give way quite quickly to a cynical politics of finger-pointing, threats, dismissal, and violence. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 963 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Temporal succession is a uniting division, not sheer separation; A sudden common spectacle can dissolve interpersonal conflict into ‘we’ experience; Societies oscillate between containment and crisis rather than remaining closed monoliths. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 52 (+18 more)

Broader Connections

• Metropolitan disasters produce only fleeting cross-difference solidarity before turn to blame #corroborates (0.95) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 963