How Violence Works: An Introduction to René Girard’s Mimetic Theory

by John Babak Ebrahimian

Publisher:

Cascade Books

, 2025

Overview

This book uncovers how violence stems from our desires. It explores why we compete, envy, and sometimes escalate conflicts into war. From wanting material things such as cars or prestigious jobs to seeking power or influence, desire can often lead to violence. The book shows how this plays out in major historical events such as 9/11 and the two World Wars. Drawing from literature, pop culture, psychology, mythology, and religion, it explains how desire is always mimetic or imitative. We desire what another person wants. While mimetic desire can be a constructive mechanism, it is also capable of creating violent mechanisms, such as the scapegoat mechanism, which we have seen throughout history. In looking at Jesus Christ’s passion and resurrection, we see how he uncovered the scapegoat mechanism and, along with his teachings, offered a viable path to peace and an end to violence.

Key Features

• Reveals how human desires are the root of violence, competition, and conflict
• Demonstrates that desire is imitative, leading to violent outcomes like the scapegoat mechanism
• Presents Jesus Christ’s passion and teachings as a path to peace and an end to violence

Contents

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1 What Is Desire?
• 2 Doubles and the Mimetic Crisis
• 3 Metaphysical Desire, Contagion, and the Mimetic Crisis
• 4 The Sacrificial Crisis and the Scapegoat Mechanism
• 5 “And the Solution Is: Sacrifice ‘em’”: Myth
• 6 From Scapegoats to Deliverance: Episodes from Genesis and the Hebrew Bible
• 7 The Sacrifice to End all Sacrifices: The Account of Jesus's Passion in the Gospels
• Conclusion: The End of Violence
• A Brief Glossary of Mimetic Theory
• A Biographical Introduction to René Girard
• Bibliography

Praise for How Violence Works

John Ebrahimian’s introduction to mimetic theory is outstanding for its warm, lively, conversational tone and for its memorable, illustrative examples. Reading it, one is easily drawn into an atmosphere that recalls Ebrahimian’s own life-changing talks with René Girard on topics that affect us all: love, desire, envy, violence, redemption. Highly recommended.

——Ann W. Astell, John Cardinal O’Hara Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame

As the extraordinary work of theorist René Girard becomes more widely known, the need for a clear, user-friendly, introductory account of each of his major ideas—with extended materials for further critical study—becomes increasingly pressing. With chapters on mimetic desire, on collective violence and the scapegoat mechanism, and on the role of Jewish and Christian scriptural texts in addressing these topics in ancient and modern cultural settings, this exciting book fills that need superbly.

——Sandor Goodhart, Professor Emeritus of English and Jewish Studies, Purdue University

Ebrahimian’s introduction to the thought of René Girard is clear, useful, and honest, presented in an engaged personal voice but without any posturing. It never wavers from Girard’s simple directive which I heard him give to a conference at Innsbruck University who asked him what we can do to keep mimetic theory ongoing and influential: ‘We search for the truth; nothing else matters.’

——William A. Johnsen, editor, Contagion: The Journal of The Colloquium on Violence and Religion

This guide to René Girard for ‘newbies’ sets a conversational tone from its first pages. Whether you settle in with this book over a morning cup of Joe or select it from your nightstand, your curiosity about big topics in human life—love, war, envy, and violence—will be rewarded. How Violence Works explains how desire in human life leads to conflict and violence but also is capable of producing good. Offering examples from daily life, popular culture, and well-known works of literature, the book invites you to think more deeply about your own life in order to replace envy and rivalry with compassionate relationships. A timely and welcome contribution to books about mimetic theory.

——Martha J. Reineke, Professor of Religion Emeritus, University of Northern Iowa

Product Details

• Title: How Violence Works: An Introduction to René Girard’s Mimetic Theory
• Author: John Babak Ebrahimian
• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Print Publication Date: 2025
• Logos Release Date: 2025
• Pages: 170
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• ISBNs: 9798385234592, 9798385234585, 9798385234578
• Resource ID: LLS:9798385234592
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-06-09T20:36:36Z