"The 13 original essays in this collection constitute a valuable addition to the large and still-growing literature on genocide. . . . Standard concept of genocide are reexamined and comparisons are drawn with related phenomena of mass destruction, such as 'total war.' . . . Most provocative and important of all, new theoretical perspectives and schemes of interpretation are presented. . . . 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."—Choice
"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
Table of Contents
Preface to the Paperback Edition
Acknowledgments
Introduction, Isidor Wallimann and Michael N. Dobkowski
Part I: Conceptualizing, Classifying, Defining, and Explaining Genocide: Some Marco Perspectives
1. A Typology of Genocide and Some Implications for the Human Rights Agenda, Kurt Jonassohn and Frank Chalk
2. Human Destructiveness and Politics: The Twentieth Century as an Age of Genocide, Roger W. Smith
3. The Etiology of Genocides, Barbara Harff
4. Genocide and the Reconstruction of Social Theory: Observations on the Exclusivity of Collective Death, Irving Louis Horowitz
5. Genocide, the Holocaust, and Triage, John K. Roth
6. Genocide and Total War: A Preliminary Comparison, Eric Markusen
7. Social Madness, Ronald Aronson
Part II: Understanding Occurrences of Genocide: Some Case Studies and Investigations of Related Social Processes
8. Was the Holocaust Unique?: A Peculiar Question? Alan Rosenberg
9. The Holocaust and Historical Explanation, Robert G.L. Waite
10. Discrimination, persecution, Theft, and Murder under Color of Law: The Totalitarian Corruption of the German Legal System, 1933-1945, Gunter W. Remmling
11. The Ultimate Repression: The Genocide of the Armenians, 1915-1917, Gerad J. Libaridian
12. Relations of Genocide: Land and Lives in the Colonization of Australia, Tony Barta
13. Middleman Minorities and Genocide, Walter P. Zenner
Afterword: Genocide and Civilization, Richard L. Rubenstein
Bibliographical Essay
Index
About the Contributors
About the Author
Isidor Wallimann is lecturer in sociology at the School of Social Work in Basel and the Institute of Sociology at the University of Bern, Switzerland.
Michael N. Dobkowski is professor of religious studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
6 x 9, 348 pages
March 2000
