Other issues in the management of trust could be addressed. For example, we might suppose that trust relationships develop in one arena in response to distrust in another or others. If the larger society is a place of distrust or the government is a source of threat, we might develop stronger local relationships to protect ourselves against intrusions from the larger, malevolent society or government. The threatening world of the Omani (briefly discussed in chapter 4) leads to strongly maintained familial homes that are virtual fortresses, with high walls offering protection against the outside. The awful world created by Stalin led later to the rich underground culture of the samizdat. Pernicious race or ethnic relations might lead a minority group to define its own ghetto.

XREF: This echoes the general principle that external threat consolidates internal cohesion — relates to social identity and conflict theory.

Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, loc. 695