Humanities

What is ostracism? »Its definition and meaning

Anonim

The word Ostracism can be used as a synonym for isolation or exclusion. This word derives from ancient Greece, specifically from the Greek word "ostrakismós" whose exact meaning is banishment by ostracism. At the social and historical level, the term of ostracism has a special importance, since it refers to the act through which a society makes the decision to remove an individual or any element that is considered highly dangerous.

In ancient times when an individual was ostracized, he was given a period of ten days to leave the city, he was also given a prohibition to return to it for at least 10 years. According to many experts, that generally the time for which the sentence was extended was reduced and therefore the person who was punished had the opportunity to return before the deadline expired. One of the arguments that was given to ostracism was the fact that said decision was of benefit to the entire community, since that individual who, for one reason or another, was harmful was kept away from it.

Today, the notion of ostracism is applied in the field of politics to refer to one or more individuals who are subjected to a vacuum that manifests itself through their exclusion from participation in events, meetings, among others. However, it is important to note that the term is not only limited to politics, since on the contrary it can be used in any context, in that sense, it is common to say that an individual suffers from some type of ostracism when he is separated from the rest. of society, as may occur in some cultures or ethnic groups. It should be noted that this type of ostracism does not necessarily imply the fact that the person or persons must leave the place, but simply suffer some type of discrimination or estrangement from the rest of the community.

In the same way, it is possible to relate ostracism to the fact in which a person is forced to leave the country in which they live, either for political or social reasons.