Why did they kill? : Cambodia in the shadow of genocide / Alex Hinton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hinton, Alexander Laban.

Series:

California series in public anthropology ; 11.

California series in public anthropology ; 11

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political atrocities--Cambodia.

Political atrocities.

Genocide--Cambodia.

Genocide.

Cambodia--Politics and government--1975-1979.

Cambodia.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (385 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Cambodia in the shadow of genocide

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, 2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Of all the horrors human beings perpetrate, genocide stands near the top of the list. Its toll is staggering: well over 100 million dead worldwide. Why Did They Kill? is one of the first anthropological attempts to analyze the origins of genocide. In it, Alexander Hinton focuses on the devastation that took place in Cambodia from April 1975 to January 1979 under the Khmer Rouge in order to explore why mass murder happens and what motivates perpetrators to kill. Basing his analysis on years of investigative work in Cambodia, Hinton finds parallels between the Khmer Rouge and the Nazi regimes. Policies in Cambodia resulted in the deaths of over 1.7 million of that country's 8 million inhabitants-almost a quarter of the population--who perished from starvation, overwork, illness, malnutrition, and execution. Hinton considers this violence in light of a number of dynamics, including the ways in which difference is manufactured, how identity and meaning are constructed, and how emotionally resonant forms of cultural knowledge are incorporated into genocidal ideologies.

Contents:

Introduction : in the shadow of genocide

The prison without walls

A head for an eye : Disproportionate Revenge

Power, patronage, and suspicion

In the shade of Pol Pot's umbrella

The fire without smoke

The DK social order

Manufacturing difference

The dark side of face and honor

Conclusion : why people kill.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612763052

9780520241789

9781417545208

9781282763050

1282763059

9781598750096

1598750097

9781417545209

1417545208

9780520937949

0520937945

9780520241787

0520241789

OCLC:

70773655