Holocaust and Genocide Studies Commons^™

Arts & Literature: The Destruction Of Smyrna In 1922: A Conversation With Petros Pourliakas, Author Of Salty Silk, Petros Pourliakas

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

In 1922, the once-cosmopolitan city of Smyrna—modern-day Izmir—was engulfed in flames, marking the end of a centuries-long Hellenic presence in Asia Minor. The catastrophe, which followed the Greco-Turkish War and occurred amidst the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands and the displacement of hundreds of thousands more. In his 2022 book Salty Silk, Greek author Petros Pourliakas recounts the tragedy, focusing on the humanitarian heroism that emerged in the midst of horror. I spoke with Pourliakas about his research, the moral complexities of recounting a national trauma, and the legacy of a …

Book Review: Capitalism, Colonisation And The Ecocide-Genocide Nexus, Merle Kooijman

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Durkheim’S Structural Functionalism And The Integration Of Genocide In His Sociological Framework, Anthonie Holslag

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Full Issue 19.1

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Where Are The Criminologists?: The Persistent Absence Of The Field In Genocide Research, Grace Allbaugh, Susan A. Woollen, Jacqueline L. Schneider, Joanne Savage

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The rallying cry of “Never Again” was heard worldwide after the Nazis’ annihilation of Jews and other victims were discovered after WWII. The global community promised that the crime of genocide would be prevented and signatory parties of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide (December 9, 1948) would do everything in their power to prevent another Holocaust from occurring. Unfortunately the “crime of all crimes” remains an almost permanent fixture in international news while signatory parties remain reluctant to call the ongoing conditions genocide. The field of genocide studies is built upon an interdisciplinary field …

Book Review: Genocide Culture: Cultural Habitus, Ethnic Engineering And Religious Doxa, Michael M. Gunter

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Combating Genocide Denial Through Rwanda’S Foreign Policy, Jonathan R. Beloff

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Rwanda’s foreign policy is still greatly influenced by the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, commonly referred to as the Rwanda Genocide. Despite the genocidal massacres ending over thirty years ago, the Rwandan government still perceives its continued threat. Despite tangible threats to the state, such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) decline, the concern of the genocide’s lasting ideology and denial still concerns Rwandan policymakers responsible for the nation’s foreign policy and remembrance. This research relies on in-depth fieldwork with various Rwandan government agencies responsible for crafting state security, foreign policy, and anti-genocide policies. It examines …

Arts & Literature: Orizaba, The Magical Town: A Scholar’S Experience With A Mothers’ Search Collective In Mexico, Pedro J. Gonzalez Corona

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The crisis of forced disappearances in Mexico reaches thousands of regular citizens in every aspect of their lives. Beyond studying the mechanics of the phenomenon: the formation of search collectives, and state-citizenship interactions, the experience of being a witness of a mass graves search provides crucial details on the micro-dynamics of collaboration essential to understanding the attempt and/or the beginning of a personal and societal healing process.

Round Table (Part 2) Book Review: From Discrimination To Death: Genocide Process Through A Human Rights Lens, Regina M. Paulose

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Arts & Literature: Another Roadside Attraction: Pol Pot's Pyre, Craig C. Etcheson

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This piece summarizes the author’s 2001 trip to Anlong Veng, Cambodia, to visit the location of Pol Pot’s cremation near the former headquarters of the Khmer Rouge guerilla movement. The paper describes the terrain that must be traversed in order to get there, and the individuals one encounters along the way. In the process, aspects of Cambodian history and culture are revealed.

Table Of Contents

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Editors' Introduction

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Full Issue 18.3

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Round Table (Part 1) Book Review: From Discrimination To Death: Genocide Process Through A Human Rights Lens, James A. Tyner

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Round Table (Part 3) Book Review: From Discrimination To Death: Genocide Process Through A Human Rights Lens, Andrew Woolford

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Round Table (Part 4) Book Review: From Discrimination To Death: Genocide Process Through A Human Rights Lens, Melanie O'Brien

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Women’S Access To Transitional Justice In Timor-Leste: The Blind Letters, Sheena M. Harris

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Perpetrators Of Mass Atrocity: Terribly And Terrifyingly Normal?, Hollie Nyseth Nzitatira

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Eyewitness To Wehrmacht Atrocities On The Eastern Front: A German Soldier’S Memoir Of War And Captivity, Timothy Heck

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Bench Stacking And Biases: The Icj’S Partial Decision In Yugoslavia V. Nato Members In Comparative Perspective, Jeffrey S. Bachman

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Since the Genocide Convention was adopted by the General Assembly in 1948, eight cases have been brought to the ICJ by invoking Article IX of the Genocide Convention as a basis of the Court’s jurisdiction. Only two cases have reached their conclusion based on the merits of the case, with others decided during preliminary proceedings, while still others remain ongoing. There have been numerous studies of ICJ impartiality, with particular focus on judges’ voting records, using large amounts of data to discern any trends and biases. This article is the first attempt to comparatively analyze ICJ genocide cases using an …

Reviving The Genocide Convention’S Preventive Purpose, Yonah Diamond, John Packer

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The contemporary discourse on genocide is dominated by international criminal law, designed to punish individuals after the fact. This article proposes a legal framework derived from Public International Law and the Genocide Convention’s original purpose to prevent genocide. We clarify the conceptual and practical differences between individual criminal responsibility for the crime of genocide and State responsibility for breaches of the Genocide Convention, including distinct standards of proof and indicia of intent. We propose correctives to prevailing errors. We argue for a more appropriate and flexible standard of proof for State breaches of the Genocide Convention. We further outline a …

Rethinking The Application Of Formal And Informal Justice Responses To Conflict Related Sexual Violence In Uganda, Josephine Ndagire

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Nearly sixteen (16) years since the "Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities Between the Government of the Republic of Uganda and Lord’s Resistance Army/Movement" (Juba Peace Agreement), accountability mechanisms envisaged therein have hardly provided meaningful redress, if at all, to victims of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). The peace negotiations took place shortly after the ICC issued arrest warrants for top commanders of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) who insisted on being tried at home. In a bid to balance the demands of peace and justice, a local accountability mechanism was agreed. The mechanism would work parallel to traditional justice mechanisms in …

“A Disturbing Portent Of Future Harm”? Attacks On Cultural Heritage, Atrocity Crimes, And The Problem Of Prevention, Matthew S. Weinert

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Preventing atrocities has garnered significant scholarly and practitioner attention. In 2014, the UN Office of Genocide Prevention issued a Framework of Analysis of Atrocity Crimes listing 14 risk factors and 143 indicators to support risk analysis and early action. Cognizant that conflicts regularly include deliberate attacks on cultural heritage, the Framework identifies fourteen indicators that pertain to culture and cultural heritage. Five years after the Framework’s release, Simon Adams decried the international community’s ineffectiveness at translating early warning into practical action with respect to cultural heritage. Instead of focusing on lack of political will or obstructionism—an obstructionism that led to …

Full Issue 18.2

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Editors' Introduction

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Limits Of Legal Responses To Genocide And Mass Atrocity: Introduction To The Special Issue, Paul Morrow, Shelley Inglis

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

After Impunity: The Anti-Impunity Norm, The Colombian Special Jurisdiction For Peace, And The Future Of International Criminal Law, Max Pensky

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The predominance of international criminal law as a frontline response to atrocity crimes prioritizes the countering of impunity as an overarching goal. A corresponding “anti-impunity norm” identifies the legal punishment of individual perpetrators as a core requirement in legal responses to atrocities. This anti-impunity norm – the requirement to prosecute and punish – is also a legal obligation for state parties to the International Criminal Court. But the anti-impunity norm equates impunity’s opposite – accountability – with the imposition of legal punishment. This narrow interpretation of impunity places limits on states’ ability to craft context-specific responses to atrocities while also …

Beyond Hierarchy: Investigating The Role Of Complex-Fluid Structures In The Accountability Of Criminal Organizations, María Manuela Márquez Velásquez, Rodrigo Moreno

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Globalization and technological development have led to quick transformations in criminal organizations, adapting to new forms/degrees of control and hierarchy. Existing legal frameworks governing responsibility for atrocity crimes have developed from the experiences of Western (center) countries and their understanding of traditional warfare structures. Thus, peripheral regions have been forced to employ doctrines with weak sociological basis. New and conventional local dynamics inside organizations and their consequential fluidity challenge the applicability of traditional modes of liability when seeking their members’ accountability.

This paper inquires about the suitability of two modes of liability under ICL –perpetration through an organization and superior …

Assembling Pieces Of Accountability For The Srebrenica Genocide, Annick Pijnenburg, Nataša Nedeski

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The Srebrenica genocide has been the subject of multiple legal proceedings against various actors before different courts, at both the national and international level. Amongst others, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has sentenced various individual perpetrators, the International Court of Justice has ruled on the responsibility of the Serbian state, and Dutch courts have been asked to rule on the liability of the Dutch state and the United Nations. This raises the following question: to what extent have multiple adjudicatory mechanisms across legal regimes managed to deliver accountability for the Srebrenica genocide and what are the remaining …