The individual and the "banality of evil"

(First, the necessary apology for slacking off of late; things have been on the crazy side. that said...)

As we reviewed Kakar's psychoanalytic take on Hindu-Muslim violence, particularly when recapping the influence of individual character/personality, my mind somehow went straight to the concept of "the banality of evil." Likely because Kakar noted, significantly, that the individuals largely leading the communal violence weren't crazy or psychologically abnormal in some way; they are/were relatively normal people. And the resulting question then has to be, of course, what makes seemingly normal people do seemingly crazy things?

Admittedly, I recall talking about the banality of evil recently, but I can't for the life of me recall when or where it was. I'm relatively positive it was in a class (though my friends are the sort who could reference Hannah Arendt and Adam Sandler over the same meal), but I'm not 100% sure that it was in this Rel/Soc. class - if anyone can assist my memory in that way, I'd be most grateful. ...so my apologize if this is repetitive from a discussion we already had in class. ahem. ...Either way, the concept of the banality of evil is a highly relevant one, particularly, perhaps, as we consider communal violence - be it in India, Nigeria (my paper), 1994 Rwanda, Kosovo... the list goes on. Neighbors against neighbors. Friends turned murderers. Everyday interactions turned nightmarish.

In the midst of it, on one hand, can't help but think that, sure, chalking violence up to insanity really doesn't help us in attempting to resolve or prevent anything. So we look for a pattern, warning signs, etc. But then again, if even the most "normal," sane of people, under circumstances, can become akin to Adolf Eichmann... well, then who's safe, and again, how do we prevent or battle it? What sparks the difference between the reasoned reaction and the violent one?

Along those lines, I do recall mentioning the real-life prison experiment in class, but I don't believe we've mentioned this movie telling of it - a disturbing film, and worth a watch if you're interested. Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker are powerhouses.