Genocide: Approaches, Case Studies, and Responses

Despite increasing global sensitivity to human rights issues and international intervention in societies experiencing severe forms of intergroup conflict, societal violence in genocidal proportions continues to plague many parts of the world, particularly Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific. Any optimism regarding improving the ‘human condition’ in the new century, despite significant political, economic, and social advancements, appears prematurely naive and optimistic. What do these destructive trends reflect? With reference to the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, Rwanda and other horrific events, a selection of international scholars explore several conceptual and theoretical issues relating to ‘genocide’ from perspectives including those of Germany, Israel, Italy, Zimbabwe and the United States. The co-editors also have diverse backgrounds, including experience in southern Africa and India. Major topics include issues of definition, varying types of genocide, theoretical and methodological approaches, policy implications, detailed case studies of genocidal situations, and evaluation of particular attempts to prevent this kind of destruction generally. In addition, survivors’ responses are explored, the ways in which different cultures, from Europe’s Jews to the Tibetan diaspora, relate to their losses, use them in reformulating their cultural identity, and commemorate their dead. Each author focuses on a particular aspect of genocide, explores it in detail with regard to its relevance and development over time, and evaluates its implications for human rights policies both internationally and within particular contexts, with the aim of developing new and practical insights and possible policy implications for reducing this human destruction. Particular attention is accorded degrees and types of genocide, as well as any society’s potential for this kind of deadly behavior. Together, the chapters identify a number of factors behind genocide, such as reactions to ethnocentrism, discrimination, and the changing global context. Theory is illustrated by a wide range of case studies; the book concludes with essays on individual and group responses to such violent and disturbing human destruction. This work includes new chapters and several revised papers from a special issue of the International Journal of Contemporary Sociology. These analyses offer the reader detailed insight into individual and group consequences of this destructive behavior, and considers policy implications regarding its possible reduction. Particular attention is accorded degrees and types of genocide, as well as any society’s potential for this kind of deadly behavior. The work is relatively unique in the range and background of the contributors, including authors from Germany, Italy, Israel, and the United States, as well as the variety of topics discussed. The co-editors also have diverse backgrounds, including experience in southern Africa and India.