René Girard’s “Battling to the End” was originally published in French as “Achever Clausewitz” in 2007. The English translation, titled “Battling to the End: Conversations with Benoît Chantre,” was published by Michigan State University Press on 15 December 2009. The French title Achever Clausewitz by René Girard translates literally into English as Finishing Clausewitz or Completing Clausewitz. This title has been rendered in English as Battling to the Endin its translated edition. The book explores Carl von Clausewitz’s military theories, particularly his concept of “absolute war,” and extends them through Girard’s lens of mimetic theory and the escalation of violence.
Table of Contents and Chapter Summaries:
Introduction: René Girard introduces the concept of mimetic rivalry, describing how individuals or groups adopt each other’s desires, creating competitive tensions that escalate into violence. Girard positions this mechanism as central to understanding the roots of human conflict and war.
Chapter 1: Mimetic Desire and Rivalry Girard explores mimetic desire, outlining how imitation of others’ desires leads inevitably to rivalry. This rivalry becomes violent as it intensifies, illustrating a fundamental human mechanism that operates in personal relationships and extends to broader social and political contexts.
Chapter 2: Escalation to Violence Girard analyses how mimetic rivalry escalates into violent conflicts, particularly in the context of warfare. He underscores that imitation is not merely benign but deeply embedded in the development of hostility and aggression between competing groups and nations.
Chapter 3: The Role of Sacrifice Girard delves into the historical and cultural practice of sacrifice, identifying its function in controlling and mitigating violence within societies. He argues that traditional sacrificial systems once effectively redirected mimetic violence but have lost their efficacy in contemporary societies.
Chapter 4: Loss of Sacrificial Mechanisms This chapter discusses how modernity, with its increased scepticism and rationalisation, has eroded traditional sacrificial practices and rituals that previously contained violence. Girard suggests that the modern inability to manage mimetic tensions results in increasing violence and conflict.
Chapter 5: Modern Warfare and Apocalyptic Violence Girard analyses contemporary warfare, characterising it as uncontrollable and potentially apocalyptic due to its mimetic structure. He demonstrates how modern technology and globalisation amplify mimetic rivalry, increasing the risk of catastrophic conflict.
“The primacy of victory is the triumph of the weak. The primacy of battle, by contrast, is the prelude to the only conversion that matters. This is the heroic attitude that we have sought to redefine. It alone can link violence and reconciliation, or, more precisely, make tangible both the possibility of the end of the world and reconciliation among all members of humanity. We cannot escape this ambivalence. More than ever, I am convinced that history has meaning, and that its meaning is terrifying.
But where danger threatens
That which saves from it also grows.”
Special Analysis: Trade Wars as Precursors to Conflict Girard specifically highlights how economic rivalries, such as trade wars, rapidly escalate into actual warfare due to underlying mimetic competition. He argues that these conflicts often arise not from differences but from the increasing similarities between competing nations, such as the US and China, where tensions emerge from competing forms of capitalism and relative social status rather than absolute economic gains.
Chapter 6: New Ways of Thinking Girard advocates for an intellectual and spiritual transformation to prevent the escalation of violence. He calls for recognition and understanding of mimetic dynamics to interrupt the cycle of rivalry and violence, proposing that a radical shift in human consciousness is necessary.
Conclusion: Girard concludes with a sobering reflection on humanity’s present trajectory, emphasising the urgent need to transcend mimetic rivalry to avert global catastrophe. He asserts the necessity of embracing new paradigms of thought that recognise and counteract the inherent violence of mimetic desire.
Mimetic
The term mimetic originates from the Greek word mimēsis, meaning imitation. In general usage, “mimetic” refers to the act of imitating or replicating something.
In the context of René Girard’s work, mimetic desire is a central concept. Girard posited that human desires are not inherently autonomous but are instead shaped by the desires of others. In other words, individuals imitate the desires of those around them, leading to a triangular relationship: the subject (the person desiring), the model (the person whose desire is being imitated), and the object (the thing being desired). This imitation can foster rivalry and conflict, as multiple individuals may end up desiring the same object due to mimetic influences.
Understanding mimetic desire is crucial in Girard’s theory, as it provides insight into the origins of human conflict and the mechanisms of societal interactions.
René Girard (1923–2015) was a French-American historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science known for his mimetic theory. Born in Avignon, France, he studied at the École Nationale des Chartes and later earned a Ph.D. at Indiana University. Girard’s academic career spanned institutions like Johns Hopkins University and Stanford University, where he explored literature, anthropology, and philosophy.
Girard’s mimetic theory posits that human desire is imitative – people desire objects because others do, leading to rivalry and conflict. To resolve such conflicts, societies historically used the “scapegoat mechanism,” uniting against a victim to restore order. His work profoundly influenced fields like theology, sociology, and cultural studies. Key works include Violence and the Sacred(1972) and Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World (1978). Girard was honored by institutions like the Académie Française and remains a pivotal figure in understanding human behaviour and culture.
Watch this video about Girard’s mimetic theory