Genocide and the Modern Age: Etiology and Case Studies of Mass Death

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction by Isidor Walliman and Michael N. Dobkowski Part I--Conceptualizing, Classifying, Defining and Explaining Genocide: Some Macro Perspectives A Typology of Genocide and Some Implications for the Human Rights Agenda by Kurt Jonassohn and Frank Chalk Human Destructiveness and Politics: The Twentieth Century as an Age of Genocide by Roger W. Smith The Etiology of Genocides by Barbara Harff Genocide and the Reconstruction of Social Theory: Observations on the Exclusivity of Collective Death by Irving Louis Horowitz Genocide, The Holocaust, and Triage by John K. Roth Genocide and Total War: A Preliminary Comparison by Eric Markusen Social Madness by Ronald Aronson Part II--Understanding Occurrences of Genocide: Some Case Studies and Investigations of Related Social Processes Was the Holocaust Unique? A Peculiar Question? by Alan Rosenberg The Holocaust and Historical Explanation by Robert G.L. Waite Discrimination, Persecution, Theft, and Murder under Color of Law: The Totalitarian Corruption of the German Legal System, 1933-1945 by Gunter W. Remmling Relations of Genocide: Land and Lives in the Colonization of Australia by Tony Barta Middleman Minorities and Genocide by Walter P. Zenner Afterword: Genocide and Civilization by Richard Rubenstein Bibliographical Essay About the Contributors

About the Author :
ISIDOR WALLIMANN is Lecturer in sociology at the School of Social Work in Basel, Switzerland. MICHAEL N. DOBKOWSKI is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Review :
?"The 13 original essays in this collection constitute a valuable addition to the large and still-growing literature on genocide. They deal with old but still unresolved issues as well as new ones, including problems of conceptualization, methodology, and theoretical interpretation. Standard concepts of genocide are reexamined and comparisons are drawn with related phenomena of mass destruction, such as total war." Further refinements are offered in the form of new typologies of genocide. Most provocative and important of all, new theoretical perspectives and schemes of interpretation are presented. Although the essays, as might be expected, give special attention to the Holocaust, they also provide case studies of the Armenian and Australian-Aboriginal instances, as well as a consideration of numerous others. The collection is enhanced by an excellent introduction and afterword. It is supplemented by a very useful selective annotated bibliography of the more important works on the problem of genocide, and an excellent index. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries, community college level and up.?-Choice ?This volume is a welcome and urgently needed systematic social science approach to understanding genocide and the Holocaust--a field that is sadly understudied. The thirteen chapters and an introduction by the editors, as well as the afterword by Richard Rubenstein, dovetail well together. The chapters are represented by experts from several social science disciplines and from theology and philosophy. The book is divided into two sections; the first deals with definitions, typologies, and an explanation of the causes of genocide. The second section concerns itself with special aspects of genocide including the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, the destruction of Australian Aborigines and total war. Each author addresses an urgent topic which cumulatively advances our understanding of this extreme form of human behavior.... This short scholarly volume is a well written work on a painful topic of destructive human behavior. As someone who has taught courses on genocide for twelve years and is familiar with the existing literature, I would say that this book adds an updated theoretical perspective which attempts to account for genocide from a multidisciplinary perspective. It is devoid of jargon and can be read and understood by an educated readership it is especially suited for undergraduate and graduate college students and people who are interested in peace, war, genocide, the Holocaust and the nuclear threat. It could be very useful in sociology, anthropology, political science and history courses.?-International Journal of Comparative Sociology ""The 13 original essays in this collection constitute a valuable addition to the large and still-growing literature on genocide. They deal with old but still unresolved issues as well as new ones, including problems of conceptualization, methodology, and theoretical interpretation. Standard concepts of genocide are reexamined and comparisons are drawn with related phenomena of mass destruction, such as total war." Further refinements are offered in the form of new typologies of genocide. Most provocative and important of all, new theoretical perspectives and schemes of interpretation are presented. Although the essays, as might be expected, give special attention to the Holocaust, they also provide case studies of the Armenian and Australian-Aboriginal instances, as well as a consideration of numerous others. The collection is enhanced by an excellent introduction and afterword. It is supplemented by a very useful selective annotated bibliography of the more important works on the problem of genocide, and an excellent index. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries, community college level and up."-Choice "This volume is a welcome and urgently needed systematic social science approach to understanding genocide and the Holocaust--a field that is sadly understudied. The thirteen chapters and an introduction by the editors, as well as the afterword by Richard Rubenstein, dovetail well together. The chapters are represented by experts from several social science disciplines and from theology and philosophy. The book is divided into two sections; the first deals with definitions, typologies, and an explanation of the causes of genocide. The second section concerns itself with special aspects of genocide including the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, the destruction of Australian Aborigines and total war. Each author addresses an urgent topic which cumulatively advances our understanding of this extreme form of human behavior.... This short scholarly volume is a well written work on a painful topic of destructive human behavior. As someone who has taught courses on genocide for twelve years and is familiar with the existing literature, I would say that this book adds an updated theoretical perspective which attempts to account for genocide from a multidisciplinary perspective. It is devoid of jargon and can be read and understood by an educated readership it is especially suited for undergraduate and graduate college students and people who are interested in peace, war, genocide, the Holocaust and the nuclear threat. It could be very useful in sociology, anthropology, political science and history courses."-International Journal of Comparative Sociology