The Violent Destruction of Community during the ‘Century of Genocide’

Abstract

Much of the early criticism of colonial genocide and genocidal practices elsewhere came from Marxists such as August Bebel, Antonio Gramsci and Ho Chi Minh. The German Left were strong critics of the colonial policy that led to the genocide against the Nama and Herero peoples. When Marxist regimes came to power after the First and Second World Wars, they initiated population politics which were highly detrimental to historical ethnic communities. This has led to a serious crisis of legitimacy on the Left. Clearly, the legacy of debates of the early inter-nationalists is still relevant as we discuss genocide as both a historical and contemporary phenomenon, but it is also essential that we use the full range of new analytical approaches as well as the comparative approach to understand and even begin to prevent this phenomenon.

Ethnic and Nationalist Mobilization

“…In other words, and against common sense misinterpretations, inter-group similarity and cultural assimilation are not conductive to stability or peaceful coexistence (Harrison 2002). This version of the boundary approach has been applied most fruitfully to the breakup of Yugoslavia (Carmichael. 2005, Cross and Komnenich 2005, Cushman, 2004, Kostovicova 2004.…”

Demo-Skepticism and Genocide

“…2 The twentieth century has been widely recognized as the century of nationalism and genocide. Most historians and social scientists concur on this grim assessment of the past century (see Carmichael, 2005; Hobsbawm, 1995; Kuper, 1981; Levene, 2005a; Melson, 1996; Shaw, 2003): never before has mass killing been carried out on such a vast scale and in such a short span of time. Mann shares this modernist approach to genocide, adding a fascinating section on imperial genocide among Native Americans.…”

“…12–13), where the painful transition to ‘liberal democracy’ led to genocidal outcomes. Scholars of the Bosnian genocide tend to be more elite oriented and agency focussed (see Carmichael, 2002; 2005; Cigar, 1995; Cushman, 2004; Cushman and Mestrovic, 1996; Gallagher, 2003; Malcolm, 1994; Ramet, 1999; 2004; Simms, 2001). Comparativists and collective action theorists also concur in identifying a clear causality and ‘chain of events’.…”