![]() In Section 4, we examine whether the existing literature on the ethics of commemoration can tell us what these further wrong-making features might be. In Section 3, we explain why a full account of what is wrong with the pressure that McClean receives must go beyond the fact it is abuse. In Section 2, we articulate the various meanings associated with the poppy in order to argue that it is not objectionable for McClean to refuse to wear the poppy. In this article, we use McClean’s case to investigate whether the kind of pressure he receives can constitute a form of affective injustice that we call ‘emotional imperialism’. While the literature on commemoration has considered a number of ways in which commemorative practices can go wrong, this question is one that so far has received little attention. Is there anything else wrong with the abuse McClean has faced other than the fact it is abuse? This issue is not only important in addressing this specific case, but also as part of the wider issue of the permissibility of pressuring people to engage in commemorative practices. Despite providing several public explanations for his decision not to wear a poppy, McClean has repeatedly received abuse, including hate mail and occasional death threats. This refers to the British Army’s killing of 13 unarmed civilians, wounding a further 15, on a peaceful protest on the streets of Derry on the 30 January 1972, which was acknowledged as ‘both unjustified and unjustifiable’ in 2010 by the then British Prime Minister David Cameron. McClean cites the Bloody Sunday massacre as a key reason for his decision. Notably, the Northern Irish footballer James McClean chooses not to wear a poppy because of the British Army’s behaviour in Northern Ireland. While many people take part in the United Kingdom’s poppy practice, some choose not to do so. In the United Kingdom, the most well-known commemorative practice involves wearing a red poppy to commemorate those who have died fighting for the British Armed Forces. For example, Columbus Day commemorates Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas while International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorates the genocides committed by Nazi Germany. These include battles, victims, leaders, and heroes. The objects of commemorative practices also differ. Commemoration can also take different forms: sometimes we perform ceremonies, sometimes we build statues, and sometimes we create symbols. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2011).Ĭommemorative practices express a range of emotions and attitudes, such as grief, sadness, gratitude, and admiration. 233–267: David Rieff, Against Remembrance. Journal of Religious Ethics 36, 2 (2008), pp. ‘Is forgetting reprehensible? Holocaust remembrance and the task of oblivion’. For disagreement, see for example: Björn Krondorfer (2008). (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014) Cécile Fabre, Cosmopolitan Peace. 1 1įor example, Jeffrey Blustein, Forgiveness and Remembrance: Remembering Wrongdoing in Personal and Public Life. In McClean’s case, we argue first that poppy enforcement is a violation of affective rights and second that he faces a particular type of affective injustice that we call ‘emotional imperialism’.Ĭommemoration plays an important role in helping societies come to terms with the losses of war. We then argue that such pressure can constitute two distinct forms of affective injustice, which are wrongs done to people specifically in their capacity as affective beings. We will argue that this cannot provide a complete account of what is wrong with poppy enforcement. ![]() But is there anything else wrong with it? We will consider the various ways the existing literature on the ethics of commemoration might help us understand what is wrong with poppy enforcement. This enforcement seems wrong in part because, at least in some cases, it involves abuse. This forms part of a wider trend towards ‘poppy enforcement’, the pressuring of people, particularly public figures, to wear the poppy. Each year he faces abuse, including occasional death threats, for his choice. The Northern Irish footballer James McClean chooses not to take part in the practice of wearing a plastic red poppy to commemorate those who have died fighting for the British Armed Forces. ![]()
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