The Social Shadow

A Holographic Comparison with the Shadow of Self

Most people like to see themselves as good, and societies think of themselves as moral or modern. But below this surface is a hidden side —a shadow— made up of things we don't want to admit. The psychologist Carl Jung called this the shadow: all the qualities you don't want to see in yourself, the stuff you push away or deny. My point is, it's not only personal. Communities have their own social (collective) shadow. That means, just like a person has a dark side, society as a whole has one too. This article uses a holographic comparison: like a small piece of a hologram still shows the whole image, the hidden parts of one person can reflect the hidden parts of a whole society. In the next sections, I explain the personal shadow, then show how the collective shadow works, and how these two are linked. My main idea is that the biggest problems we see in society often come from our collective psychological shadow—and facing this "social shadow" is just as important as working on personal growth.

The Personal Shadow: Our Hidden Self

We all have a shadow. These are things about ourselves that we hide, avoid, or are embarrassed by. Jung wrote that the shadow is "the thing a person has no wish to be"—the unwanted side of your ego, with qualities you think are bad or shameful. For example, a person who wants to feel gentle might never admit they can be angry. That anger is pushed into the shadow. But it doesn't vanish. Instead, it lives in the unconscious, and sometimes comes out when you least expect it, like saying something mean in anger that shocks even yourself.

It's important to say the shadow is not just negative. It can also have good potential, like creativity or honest strength that we hide because we're scared or ashamed. But as long as we don't face our shadow, it stays hidden and acts out in ways we don't control. Usually, we project these traits onto others: a person who is selfish but doesn't admit it may always complain about how selfish others are. Jung warned that not noticing or accepting your shadow causes big problems—not just inside you, but also with people around you. In fact, many struggles between people or groups happen because everyone is denying their own shadow. "Not seeing and facing shadow elements is often the root of problems between individuals and within groups," and it's what creates prejudice, or even leads to wars. This is why facing your personal shadow (sometimes called "shadow work") is needed if you want to be whole. You need to own your dark side, not let it control you behind your back.

The Collective Shadow: Society's Dark Side

Just like individuals, societies also have shadows. This social shadow holds the bad, shameful, or violent sides of a community that everyone tries to ignore. It's the stuff that goes against our public image or values. The collective shadow is made up of what a group refuses to face, pushing it into the collective unconscious. In simple words, it's the dark side of humanity at the group level—all the past and present pain, cruelty, and horror we as humans have committed, but try not to think about. This stuff hides in traditions, institutions, and silent rules because it's so old and part of the culture. But it's always there, and every society has these shadow parts.

Examples of the social shadow include:

• Scapegoating: Societies deal with unwanted feelings by blaming outsider groups. This causes racism, religious hate, homophobia, and other prejudices. A society points at a minority and calls them bad, blaming them for problems that actually come from the majority's own denied issues. This is the classic case of projection. When we shout "they are the problem," it's often our own stuff we're shouting about.

• Denying Guilt: Sometimes societies hide from dark parts of history, like refusing to admit to acts of genocide or violence. This is collective denial, and the more it happens, the longer the wounds stay open and affect society later on.

• Extremism and Panics: When there's too much pressure inside, the hidden shadow can erupt suddenly—in hate crimes, crazy political movements, or big panics. Then you get leaders or ideologies who give people permission to act out what was forbidden before.

• Us vs. Them: Polarization—fighting between groups—often comes from each side projecting their denied flaws onto the other. Each side calls itself pure and blames the other for everything bad, and nobody is honest about their own faults, which adds fuel to the fire.

So, when a community doesn't own up to its darkness, it chases outside enemies instead. Same as with individuals, but now on a bigger scale, which makes it even more dangerous. Sometimes this ends up in outright violence (wars or persecution), other times it festers quietly as negative moods in society. But it always has a big impact, and only by seeing it can we start to deal with it.

A Holographic Mirror: Society and Self in Parallel

The idea of a holographic comparison is that the small and big are linked. There's an old saying: "As above, so below; as within, so without." It means what happens inside us often shows up in the world, and what happens in society is also happening in us. Each person is a small version (microcosm) of the bigger group (macrocosm), and the patterns are often the same.

Societies are just made up of many people. If lots of people repress the same kinds of fears or bad feelings, this creates a strong shadow in the group. The group then shapes the same attitudes in its people and reinforces that behavior. It goes in both directions! Society shapes the person and the person shapes society. This is why, if you want to understand the world, you have to look at yourself, and if you want to understand yourself, you should look at the world.

For example, if I can't face my own laziness, I might always moan that my coworkers are lazy—that's projection. Societies do this too. A country that thinks of itself as peaceful might call other countries aggressive, not seeing its own aggression. In the Cold War, for example, both the USA and USSR called each other evil while ignoring their own dark side.

Another parallel: repressed stuff doesn't stay hidden forever. If a person bottles up anger for years, maybe one day it explodes. Societies are no different: when there are years of building shame, frustration, or resentment, you can get a scandal, a social crisis or even worse. Jung said groups that don't integrate their shadow can suddenly go mad. A good example: after World War I, Germany had lots of humiliation and anger bottled up. This, mixed with other factors, exploded as Nazi extremism in the 1930s. Jung saw this as the shadow taking over a nation—very dangerous, but built on denial.

The link between society and person goes both ways. If your culture tells you never to be angry, you might learn to stuff down all your anger as a bad thing. That hidden anger adds more to the collective shadow (all the unspoken resentment in the country), making it stronger.

In short: our inside reflects the outside, and society's issues reflect our personal issues. This idea helps us see that healing ourselves is part of healing society.

Example: The Shadow in Society — Populism in East Germany

To make this less abstract, look at the rise of Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), a far-right party, in East Germany. Many people think the AfD's success shows social problems that have long been ignored—basically, the collective shadow coming to the surface.

Since Germany reunited in 1990, the East went through tough changes. While the official story was all about happy unity, many people in the East felt overlooked or patronized by the West. Feelings of upset, shame, or loss of identity were rarely talked about. These feelings became a shadow issue in Germany: they were real but kept quiet. Over time, these came out politically. The AfD started as an anti-euro party but turned to nationalism and anti-immigrant messages. This hit home for many in the East.

Today, the AfD is far more popular in East Germany than in the West. In places like Saxony and Thuringia, they get over 30% of the vote. What's behind this? A big part is the return of the repressed. Old feelings of being left out or threatened came out as anger against outsiders, like immigrants or Berlin elites. For example, in Saxony, 58% said they feel like strangers in their own country because of immigrants—but immigrants are only about 3% of that region! This shows the problem isn't really about immigrants, but about deeper fears and resentment. Instead of looking at their own struggles or the hard side of reunification, society found an outside group to blame.

By making nationalist and xenophobic ideas more open again, the AfD "pulled the shadow out of the cellar." Germany's post-war values are tolerance and democracy, but that doesn't make the old shadow disappear. If real social wounds aren't healed, the same old prejudices pop up again. In Jung's view, the rise of the AfD is Germany being forced to look at something it wanted to ignore. It's uncomfortable, but it's a chance to grow if handled right. Just calling all AfD voters "bad people" is useless—that's more projection. Denying talking to them as many other parties swore is ignoring the shadow with all the resulting consequences.

A shadow perspective asks: what pain or truth is behind this, and how do we face it together? Only by talking about real issues, openly, can the shadow lose power.

In the end, the AfD's rise is both a warning and an opportunity. When enough individuals hold the same silent pain inside, it spills over into society as a whole. Now Germany is challenged to deal with its collective shadow, not sweep it aside again.

Integration

The shadow is all the stuff we fear, hate, or hide—personally and as a society. When we ignore these parts, they grow stronger and often show up in ugly ways. I believe that both personal and collective shadows are the same at their core. The anger a person hides inside is just like the anger a group shoves away in public.

Jung said bringing your personal shadow to light is needed for real wholeness. The same goes for society. If we won't admit society's dark side, it will show up anyway, often even worse. But if we notice the shadow, we can start to work with it and take charge of it, not be ruled by it. This means being honest—admitting our prejudices, past mistakes, and listening to voices we ignored. It's not about blaming, but about learning. When individuals do "shadow work," it means self-reflection and being kind to your flaws. For a society, it means public dialogue, admitting past wrongs, and policies that tackle the root of problems. If your country's shadow is racism, then own up to it and make real changes. If it's old wounds, talk about them. The main thing is being real and taking responsibility, even if it's not easy.

As Jung said, "there is no light without shadow." The world, and each of us, has both. Denying the shadow just makes it stronger. But seeing it, talking about it, and learning from it makes it weaker and gives us more freedom. Every person who faces their own darkness helps society move forward. Every time a country faces its shadow honestly, it becomes a better place for everyone.

My advice: don't be afraid of your own dark side, or your society's. Recognize it, learn from it, and use it to grow. That's how we take our shadows and use them for good. And that's how we build a stronger, more united world.