What do genocides kill? A relational conception of genocide

Powell, Christopher

doi:10.1080/14623520701643285

Cited by 46 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Even if the national group did not possess recognised sovereignty Lemkin thought it had an inherent right to exist just like the sovereign individual -and such groups provided the essential basis of human culture as a whole -such that the concept of 'genocide' was designed specifically to protect that life. 48 Lemkin defined genocide in terms of the violation of a nation's right to its collective existence -the destruction of a nation. Such destruction can be achieved through the 'mass killings of all members of a nation'; or through 'a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups'.…”

Section: Downloaded By [Mcmaster University] At 06:17 27 December 2014mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…25 These contributions will be discussed in the next section where I argue that much sociological work on genocide, barring a few notable exceptions, has downplayed or ignored both the importance of 'cultural genocide' to the concept of genocide itself and the relationship between genocide and colonialism; a relationship which has come under increasing scrutiny from historians writing in the field of genocide studies. 26 A hugely significant dimension of these studies has been the recovery of Lemkin's own historical writing (much of which remains unpublished), and recovering the meaning of genocide for Lemkin is, as Martin Shaw points out, a necessary beginning for the sociology of genocide.…”

Section: Introduction: Sociology Genocide Studies and Definitional Cmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Cultural genocide and indigenous peoples: a sociological approach

Short

2010

The International Journal of Human Rights

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Section: Downloaded By [Mcmaster University] At 06:17 27 December 2014mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introduction: Sociology Genocide Studies and Definitional Cmentioning

confidence: 98%

Cultural genocide and indigenous peoples: a sociological approach

Short

2010

The International Journal of Human Rights

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“…Powell () may come closest to providing a theoretical framework that accounts for the fluidity and contingency of genocide, which he sees as part of a “relational sociology” grounded in the work of Elias. Powell, in fact, points to the importance of subjectivity and the constitution of the individual through relations with others.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genocide Reconsidered: A Pragmatist Approach

Schneiderhan

2013

J Theory Soc Behav

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The recent literature on genocide shows signs of taking what might be called a "processual turn," with genocide increasingly understood as a contingent process rather than a singular event. But while this second generation's turn may be clear to those within the literature, the theory guiding the change is insufficiently specified. The theory regarding process and contingency is implicit, and, as such, genocide theory does not realize its full generative potential. The primary goal of this article is to provide a more robust theoretical framework for making sense of the continually evolving dimensions of genocide. It builds on the literature's existing foundations, most notably Mann's (2005) notion of "contingent escalations." In the spirit of the recent revival of American Pragmatism in sociology, it draws on the work of Dewey, Mills, Follett, and Addams (among others) as part of a theoretical reconstruction using pragmatist concepts such as rupture, perplexity, vocabularies of motive, and experimentation to consider examples from the Rwandan genocide and show how we might explore the potential for nonteleological intentionality on the part of genocidal actors. The result is an enhanced theoretical framework that offers "fresh eyes" for considering one of the worst (and most under-theorized) social problems.

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“…The public debate usually goes through cycles of contestation, where the past, the present and the future of a community are turned into battlefields. Consequently, several authors (Gallagher, 2009;Powell, 2007;Straus, 2001) have intimated that 'genocide' might be considered an 'essentially contested concept', whose meaning cannot be settled through conceptual analysis alone. (Freeden, 2004;Gallie, 1956) The discussion in section III will show that dubbing 'genocide' an essentially contested concept is not unproblematic.…”

Section: T S 277) Defines Genocide Asmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political imagination and the crime of crimes: Coming to terms with ‘genocide’ and ‘genocide blindness’

Thaler

2014

Contemp Polit Theory

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Abstract:This paper deals critically with the process of coming to terms with 'genocide'. It starts from the observation that conventional philosophical and legal approaches to capturing the essence of 'genocide' through an improved definition necessarily fail to adapt to the everchanging nature of political violence. Faced with this challenge, the paper suggests that the contemporary debate on genocide (and its denial) should be complemented with a focus on transforming the perceptive and interpretive frameworks through which acts of violence are discussed in the public sphere. The main purpose of this paper is to contribute, from the vantage point of political theory, to this debate by offering a novel normative perspective on negative reactions to genocide. Hence, I argue that it is productive to speak of 'genocide blindness' in cases when the members of the public sphere are simply incapable of seeing an instance of violence as genocidal. To establish this claim, the paper introduces Ludwig Wittgenstein's reflections on 'aspect-seeing' so as to underline the importance of changing the way how political violence is perceived and interpreted. In a second step, the paper turns to María Pía Lara's theory of storytelling as a concrete mechanism for triggering and instituting this kind of change.

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What do genocides kill? A relational conception of genocide

Cited by 46 publications

References 10 publications

Cultural genocide and indigenous peoples: a sociological approach

Cultural genocide and indigenous peoples: a sociological approach

Genocide Reconsidered: A Pragmatist Approach

Political imagination and the crime of crimes: Coming to terms with ‘genocide’ and ‘genocide blindness’

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