This is second episode in a series that I'm doing on René Girard’s mimetic theory. My idea in this series is to sketch the basic parameters and considerations of mimetic theory, as well as looking at how this theory questions and illuminates various aspects of the human experience by focusing on an empirical truth: our capacity for imitation. Following on from my discussion in the previous episode on the nature of mimetic desire, this episode focuses on the way that mimetic desire gives rise to rivalry. Key ideas covered in this episode are: internal mediation, external mediation, the way that mimetic desire leads to rivalry, the dyadic nature of politics and conflict, and the double-injunction of the model/mediator. Key texts used in this podcast are Roberto Farnetti's ‘Mimetic Politics,’ JM Oughourlian’s ‘TheGenesis of Desire’ and, very importantly, René Girard's 'Violence and theSacred.'