Reigns of terror / Patricia Marchak.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Marchak, M. Patricia.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Crimes against humanity.

Genocide--Sociological aspects.

Genocide.

Genocide--History--20th century.

Political atrocities--History--20th century.

Political atrocities.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (321 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Montreal ; Ithaca : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Marchak departs significantly from mainstream explanations of genocide, rejecting racism as a fundamental cause and disputing a wide range of other explanations that cite racist and religious ideologies, perception of threat, authoritarianism, and unique historical circumstances as primary causes. She argues that while these variables may be contributing factors, states move toward human rights crimes because their governments can no longer sustain a particular social hierarchy. Reasons for their paralysis may be economic, environmental, demographic, or purely political. In an attempt to re-establish the former status quo, they turn against groups low on the hierarchical scale, some of which may be defined in ethnic terms. If governments come into power as revolutionary forces, they may commit such crimes in order to establish a new social hierarchy. Other necessary but insufficient conditions for state crimes include the military capacity for committing mass murder, the creation of ideology that justifies such action, and the failure of independent institutions such as the mass media and universities to counter ideological and military forces. Reigns of Terror is highly accessible and aimed at an audience of senior undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty in the social sciences, as well as a more general reading public concerned about the many state-sponsored crimes against humanity still occurring in the world.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

An Argument about Conditions Leading to Crimes against Humanity

States, Armed Force, and Unequal Citizens

Racism and Identity

Culture and Ideology

Who Are the Ordinary Men?

The Janus State and the Problem of Intervention

Case Studies

Ottoman Empire, 1915-16

The USSR , 1932-33

Nazi Germany, 1933-45

Burundi and Rwanda,1972-95

Cambodia, 1975-79

Argentina, 1976-83

Yugoslavia, 1990-94

Epilogue

References

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-282-86161-1

9786612861611

0-7735-7160-4

OCLC:

756538576