ABSTRACT
People tend to view their social, political, and in-group affiliations as an articulation of their chosen values, stemming from ideological roots and expressing a carefully thought out and rational worldview. It is this division that defines "us" as a source of closeness and sharing and "them" as different, antithetical, negative, and, often, a potential enemy. Ideologies and group history are built on the foundation of this structural division. This chapter describes in detail the observations and findings that demonstrate the division into "us" and "them", the process by which them is transformed into an enemy, the process of building an ideology on its basis, and the difficulties in maintaining a dialogue after it has taken place. It claims that it is possible to view the division into "us" and "them" as a kind of an inborn human instinct that is functional in consolidating the resources of the group and transforming it into a cohesive working team.
