Zimbardo's Prison experiment was a test, where wiling participants subjected themselves to take part in a pre-constructed society. Namely a prison built in Stanford's basement. The prison was fully functional, the only thing that it needed was a staff. The participants, upon arrival were split into two groups: guards, and prisoners with Zimbardo himself as the warden. The prison mindset began to set in as both Zimbardo and the rest of the guards begin to take their roles too seriously (contacting other prisons for prisoner transport, physically beating the prisoners, creating plusher cells while stripping the other prisoners of their dignity). The project was then shut down.
How this relates to The Book of Negroes is in regards to de-humanization. When captured, Aminata and the other prisoners are stripped of their clothes, and therefore their dignity. The tobabu believe themselves to be the end all and be all, when in actuality they have a better to answer to (similar to the guards). The tobabu also used confusion tactics to cause chaos and disorganization within the slave group (bringing certain prisoners to plusher conditions), however (similarly to Zimbardo's prison experiement) it ceases to be effective and the prisoners revolt.
That's the connection I make.
- K
No comments:
Post a Comment