1. Ancient Myths: In Greek mythology, Oedipus is blamed for the plague in Thebes, despite his ignorance of his actions. His expulsion restores order.

2. Religious Texts: In the Bible, Jesus is crucified as a scapegoat to absolve societal sins, embodying the innocent victim whose sacrifice brings peace.

3. Witch Hunts: In medieval Europe, women accused of witchcraft were scapegoated for societal ills like crop failures or disease, uniting communities through their persecution.

4. Modern Politics: Minority groups, immigrants, or political dissidents are often scapegoated during crises (e.g., Jews in Nazi Germany, or Muslims post-9/11), diverting blame and reinforcing group cohesion.

These examples illustrate how scapegoating serves as a tool to redirect collective anxiety and restore perceived order.

1. Legal Systems: Replace vigilante justice with impartial adjudication, reducing the need for scapegoating.
2. Democratic Governance: Allow for peaceful resolution of competing interests through dialogue and compromise.
3. Human Rights Frameworks: Establish universal principles that protect individuals from collective violence.
4. Economic and Social Policies: Address inequalities that often fuel mimetic rivalries, reducing the conditions for conflict.

These institutions reflect humanity’s capacity to transcend Girard’s cyclical violence by creating structures that channel competition and desire into constructive, rather than destructive, outcomes.

Key points about mimetic desire:

1. Non-originality of desire: Our desires are shaped by others, often unconsciously.
2. Escalation of rivalry: When two or more parties desire the same thing, conflict arises, intensifying as each tries to outdo the other.
3. Triangular structure: Desire involves a subject, an object, and a mediator (the person or model whose desire is being imitated).
4. Social contagion: Mimetic desire spreads through communities, creating shared aspirations and tensions.

Girard argues that this dynamic is universal and underlies much of human conflict, from personal rivalries to large-scale societal violence. The scapegoat mechanism emerges as a way to resolve these tensions, but it does so at the cost of perpetuating cycles of violence and exclusion.

1. Observation: People notice what others desire or value.
2. Imitation: They adopt those desires, often without realizing it.
3. Reinforcement: As more people desire the same thing, it gains perceived value, further fueling imitation.
4. Conflict: When multiple individuals or groups pursue the same scarce object or status, rivalry escalates, creating tension.

This dynamic is amplified by social proximity—people are more likely to imitate those close to them (e.g., peers, leaders, or cultural icons). Over time, shared desires and rivalries become embedded in the community’s norms, perpetuating cycles of aspiration and conflict.

1. Subject: The person who desires.
2. Object: The thing or goal that is desired.
3. Mediator: The person or model whose desire the subject imitates.

This structure reveals that desire is not direct or intrinsic but mediated through others. The mediator can be a rival, a role model, or even an abstract ideal. When multiple subjects imitate the same mediator, rivalry escalates, leading to conflict. This dynamic is foundational to Girard’s broader theories on human behavior, violence, and cultural order.