What is mimetic rivalry and how does it lead to conflict and violence?
Girard points out that rivalry is really not about the object, but about a sense of being, or a sense self. When we try to acquire a sense of being from another person by taking away his or her being, then we fall into mimetic rivalry. A good example is a student and a teacher who both desire to be experts in the same field. This shared longing ensures a mutual love and respect that strengthens both student and teacher’s sense of self and well-being. But what happens when, after years of study, the student and the teacher are both applying for the same tenured position? Their relationship is suddenly transformed from one of congeniality to rivalry. Beloved model and cherished student can become ruthless rivals in an instant – without even realizing how the change happened. Here we see that it is not the tenured position that each is trying so desperately to acquire, but the sense of self and well-being that the student and teacher used to get from one another. When what we are trying t
