Genocide: A Reader

Genocide: A Reader

Genocide is a phenomenon that continues to confound scholars, practitioners, and general readers. Notwithstanding the carnage of the twentieth century, our understanding of genocide remains partial. Disciplinary boundaries have inhibited integrative studies and popular, moralizing accounts have hindered comprehension by advancing simple truths in an area where none are to be had. Genocide: A Reader lays the foundations for an improved understanding of genocide. With the help of 150 essential contributions, Jens Meierhenrich provides a unique introduction to the myriad dimensions of genocide and to the breadth and range of critical thinking that exists concerning it. This innovative anthology offers genre-defining as well as genre-bending selections from diverse disciplines - in law, the social sciences, and the humanities - as well as from other fields. A wide-ranging introductory chapter on the study and history of genocide accompanies the carefully curated and annotated collection. By revisiting the past of genocide studies and imagining its future, Genocide: A Reader is an indispensable resource for novices and specialists alike. "This monumental compilation provides a compelling and up-to-date survey of genocide starting with its contested definition and historical patterns and moving to its widespread ramifications, including responses in law, media, and psychology. Jens Meierhenrich has done students, teachers, and the public a great service in collecting these sometimes little-known materials and capturing the state of a pivotal discussion in so comprehensive and responsible a way."--Samuel Moyn, author of The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History "A multidimensional, complex, fluid, and ever-expanding concept, genocide can be bewildering and confusing. Here is a comprehensive yet eclectic guide that offers all you need to know."-- Stathis Kalyvas, author of The Logic of Violence in Civil War "With its comprehensive introduction and compilation of critical essays in the field, this volume will be a key resource for anyone - students, scholars, practitioners, or lay readers -- interested in genocide."--Alex Hinton, author of Why Did They Kill? Cambodia in the Shadow of Genocide "Owing to the editor's carefully informed study, this reader is complex and sophisticated; the annotations that preface each selection highlight his deep engagement with the topic and push readers to consider broader issues in genocide studies. Meierhenrich succeeds in offering 'an alternative canon for the study of genocide.' Summing up: Essential."-- CHOICE An introduction to the myriad dimensions of genocide, and to the various ways of making sense of it--from autobiographical remembering to journalistic reporting to theoretical reasoning Jens Meierhenrich is Associate Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics, and previously taught at Harvard University. His books include Lawfare and The Legacies of Law, which won the American Political Science Association's 2009 Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award for the best book on government, politics, or international affairs. He is currently at work on a genocide trilogy.