Moral Injury, Normalization of Evil, and Decolonial Theory in the analysis of perpetrators' discourse and a liberationist response

In this paper, I will explore the possibilities of analyzing paramilitary perpetrators’ accounts of their role in mass crimes in the context of the Colombian civil war, who do not show typical symptoms of moral injury such as remorse, guilt, or depression. To see the possibilities of analyzing these types of narratives I will dive into the theoretical lenses of normalization of evil and decolonial theory. To present my explorations I will develop this paper in three parts: in the first part, I will refer to the case of the book No divulgar hasta que los implicados estén muertos by Carlos Mauricio García Fernández, an ex-commander of the paramilitary group Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia - AUC, which is the account of a perpetrator whose behavior does not fall in the traditional categories of moral injury. In the second part, I will explore the concept of normalization of evil in conversation with decolonial theory to unveil the ways in which assimilation to oppressive structures and value systems facilitated perpetrators’ involvement in hideous criminal acts. Finally, I will explore the possibilities that liberation theology has to provide a desirable ethical framework that responds to future findings in my analysis of the discourse of AUC ex-commanders.

Malignant normality was a term coined by the psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton. A term he recently renamed as normalization of evil refers to the socialization of doctors in order to make them commit genocide, among other hideous acts in order to serve the Nazi regime.[1] The author came up with this concept when he did his research interviewing physicians who perpetrated hideous crimes under the Nazi regime.[2] In some of his findings, he identifies that when societies impose their social and cultural norms, they also establish patterns of behavior that are dangerous or harmful. Lifton notes that these malignant patterns are present in different aspects of human life and are considered normal and expected to be observed. Therefore, the established normality pressures destructive behaviors and excludes alternative non-harmful structures. In this regard, Lifton highlights that he found in his research that initially some of the doctors who participated in the Nazi regime showed a degree of resistance to the harmful practices but ultimately adapted to them. In other words, these doctors internalized the medical practices that occurred in Auschwitz as “normal.”[3] Along with this author I will refer to other authors who also study the phenomenon of evil and how it is normalized although they do not necessarily use exactly the same concept created by Lifton.

On the other hand, Decolonial theorists observe how the legacy of colonization perpetuates the exercise of dominant power over minoritized communities.  I have found that thanks to the concept of normalization of evil I have been able to draw a connection between the discourse of contemporary perpetrators who do not show remorse with colonial ways of othering and oppressing individuals and communities.  As the decolonial authors point out, these structures, systems, and concepts are based on markers like race, gender, place of origin, and class, among others. These markers form the grounds of colonial projects that have the consequences of domination and damaging patterns from powerful groups over groups of people who are considered inferior. For instance, I have found a pattern in the discourse of Mauricio García Fernández and other ex-AUC commanders, where they defend their violence as a manifestation of their righteousness. This emulates the discourse of colonization that justifies itself as violence that comes from a place of goodness, as Enrique Dussel has pointed out in his writings.[4] Franz Fanon also has spoken about the ways in which colonialism trains the colonized to be violent against each other.[5] In this sections I will present some of the main points of decolonial theory that deepen these concepts of domination and the role of the project of colonization born in Europe.

Liberation theology could offer a theological response to contribute to the construction of a liberationist ethical framework. Liberation theology has constantly challenged institutional, cultural, and epistemological oppressive structures and brings a liberatory message to the ones who have been oppressed by them.[6] Liberation theology has been recognized for calling society to take the side and listen to the ones who are in positions of suffering oppression such as poor,[7] racialized people,[8] and gendered people[9] among others.

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[1] Robert Jay Lifton "Malignant Normality: Doctors, Climate Change, and the Violence of Normal Times." Dissent Magazine, Fall 2020, https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/malignant-normality-doctors

[2] Robert Jay Lifton, The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide, vii–xi.

[3] Lifton "Malignant Normality”

[4] Enrique Dussel. The Invention of the Americas: Eclipse of “the Other” and the Myth of Modernity. Translated by Michael D. Barber. Continuum: New York. 1995. 50

[5] Frantz Fanon, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Farrington, Constance. The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press, 1965. 15

[6] Ivone Gebara, Longing for Running Water: Ecofeminism and Liberation (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1999), 107.

[7] Gutiérrez, Gustavo. "A theology of liberation: History, politics and salvation (Rev. ed.)." Maryknoll, NY: Orbis (1988). 13

[8] James H. Cone. A Black theology of liberation. Orbis Books, 2010. 7

[9] Ada María Isasi-Díaz. Mujerista theology: A theology for the twenty-first century. Orbis Books, 1996. 40