Romanticizing the orchestrated violence at Jamia, AMU among other places seems to be the latest trend amongst the chatterati. Unsurprisingly, students, perhaps with tacit and not so tacit encouragement from faculty and liberals alike, are claiming victimhood. Apparently it is another episode of proverbial David versus Goliath-

The Spill-over effect, is the so called solidarity marches and protests across other universities. Bollywood and other celebrities were quick in climbing on the bandwagon. Yet, the phenomenon is not unique and is replicated frequently. It merits dissection on why hooliganism by certain sections creates a sense of romanticism and not revulsion or anger.

Victimhood narratives centered on manufactured grievance is the foundation for Marxo-Islamic schools of thought. Marxist foundations trace their roots as a reaction to capitalist appropriation of labour value creation. Grievances accumulated thus was to drive proletariat towards a revolution culminating the destruction of bourgeoisie in throes of materialistic enjoyment.  

The Indian ecosystem replaced the proletariat with castes at the lower end of social hierarchy seeking to overthrow the domination of upper castes. Political expediency obliged coalition with Islamic groups. To the left, ever in need of a villain, Hindus especially the upper castes became a convenient target. Guilt tripping over past atrocities, real or otherwise reinforce the necessity of rising above board in addressing the social inequities allegedly driven by caste.  The Muslim community which stayed had to be indulged in for ostensibly being ‘punished’ for sins of partition.

Markets for victimhood too function on economic archetypes. Each individual is susceptible to substitution bias. The implication is individual judge situations not through complete analysis of information but through easily calculable heuristic attributes. Decades of manufacturing these heuristic attributes with constant reinforcement through sticks and carrots has done its job. Social constructs therefore create default victimhood. Through series of guilt trapping steps strengthened frequently, victimhood building anchored towards certain social sections. 

Hence, when such narrative appears, instinct overpowers logic at the first instant. Indubitably, the first impression is the underdog as victim. Given the perception of police being highhanded more often than not, conceivably, the sympathy is with students, more so if they belong to minority community or from the left persuasion. A classic manifestation of the substitution bias. To some, despite acknowledging at least privately of the substance of counter arguments, public articulation might entail too high an opportunity cost of socio-political mobility. Hence safety dictates taking a politically correct position.  

Actors and Motivations

Multi sided victimhood market comprise different actors each with differing motivations. Media salivates at TRPs in game of one upmanship with its competitors. Often these violent manifestations of protests are made for TV, a sort of anti-establishment reality show. A momentary discounting the media’s own bias and agenda, too would lead to prisoner’s dilemma with societal externalities engendering long lasting fault lines. To media mob justice in zeal for converting low hanging fruit for TRPs, the fundamental principle for all outages makes society pay too high a cost.

Intersectional movements, inherently polarizing, are perfect opportunities for media to drive its own agenda. Nehruvian narrative is being dismantled, new emergent narratives are on the horizon. Palpably, Schumpeterian destruction of media establishment as we know it is underway and being replaced by bottom up narrative reflecting genuine socio-political ground realities. To a substantial section of the media, they have a significant stake in continuance of post-independence imagined socio-political narrative perhaps for perpetuity. Assets and resources configured towards a success in certain socioeconomic context are increasingly becoming obsolete in the new era. Therefore for the entrenched, any action contesting emergent narrative while perpetuating outgoing narrative incontestably finds favor.

For celebrities in the entertainment or other fields, public demonstration of solidarity with alleged ‘victims’ is a positional good. Public arguments revolving on the call for exercise of so-called restraint on the part of the authorities is an ‘opportunity’ for reflection of ‘ideas and thoughts’. Current celebrity ecosystem is pervaded by essence of possessing luxury beliefs at least for public consumption. These beliefs transforming as positional goods spills downstream to an average citizen.

Virtue signaling is an exhibition of rising above the supposedly regressive Hindu patriarchal beliefs and taking stands that show off as pro minority or pro dissent or not afraid to take on the evil omnipresent establishment. To those hanging in the lower echelons of the celebrity hierarchy, payoffs emerge in opportunities for upward career mobility.  Politically incorrect stands more often than not are career spoilers.

The subsequent pressures percolating to the grassroots of perpetuating the substitution bias, and an urge to demonstrate or at public expression of luxury beliefs driven by the victims as sort of above regressive social narrative. Everybody has to condemn, else the counter arguments incur a cost that might seriously erode their social standing.

Victims and Incentive Mechanism

Outrage results in outpouring of sympathy towards victims. Borrowing from economics, supply of sympathy is high. This is precisely what the alleged victims crave for. They, more often than not essentially are attention seeking. Attention is perhaps most scarce in an environment flooded with overdose of information. Attention, to those seeking victimhood, is a rational path to ‘utility maximization’. 

The success of the contrived victimhood depends on the degree of attention, and the subsequent sympathy they are able to generate. The logical step forward would be pursuit to seek adoration or veneration among the societal circles they frequent in or seek to penetrate in. Instances of Kanahiya Kumar or Sheila Rashid or Umar Khalid are tempting. Accompanying sympathy is a sense of awe towards protestors of being able to take on the mighty establishment.  

To those in business of supplying eulogies, of which no dearth exists, the underlying principle is the same for any producer of goods and services.  The tournament in which top of pyramid earn more than disproportionate share of rewards is an incentive the seekers of victimhood strive towards. Barriers to the top even within the circle are formidable, many might drop off, yet payoffs around attention, awe, veneration, adoration etc makes it worth pursuing.

To media and accompanying liberal networks across universities and think tanks, the need to project a David to ‘destroy’ a Modi-Shah in whom they see a Goliath is good enough reason to create he/sheroes among protestors. Hence the chronicles and subsequent steps are following a predictable script. The first signs of diminishing returns are on the horizon, but nevertheless persisted with.

Concluding Remarks

If the economics of victimhood were to be summarized, the so called victims in craving for attention, compassion, hero-worship etc. respond to incentives such attention delivers them. To those who offer ‘supply’ of attention, veneration, understanding etc., it is a manifestation of luxury belief enshrined as a positional good, an incentive in itself to climb a certain socio-professional hierarchy. For the media, in demonstrating need to bring out ‘multifaceted facts’ is an occasion for rear-guard action against Schumpeterian dismantling of entry and competitive barriers while seeking perhaps scorched earth policy.

Multi sided contrived victimhood narrative is rational act with visible payoffs for each actor. The sooner we understand, the better it is. Solution is simple, transform the positive payoffs into negatives, something possible but a long road lies ahead.