[Debate] Noam Chomsky, "Genocide Denial with a Vengeance: Old and New Imperial Norms" (peter waterman)

[Henning Melber]

For a debate on the history, meaning, context (as well as limitations) of the genocide convention and the definition of genocide as a result of the political constellation then you find contributions to the following volume, with special emphasis on colonial forms of mass violence:
http://www.dhf.uu.se/publications/development-dialogue/revisiting-the-heart-of-darkness-explorations-into-genocide-and-other-forms-of-mass-violence/
Follow up volumes dealt with other forms of mass violence:
http://www.dhf.uu.se/publications/development-dialogue/dealing-with-crimes-against-humanity/
-------
Henning Melber (Executive Director)
The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation
Övre Slottsgatan 2, S-753 10 Uppsala/Sweden
Tel. +46-18-4101001; Fax +46-18-12 20 72
Henning.Melber at dhf.uu.se, http://www.dhf.uu.se 

"IT IS WHEN WE ALL PLAY SAFE THAT WE CREATE A WORLD OF UTMOST INSECURITY."
Dag Hammarskjöld



On May 26, 2012, at 8:23 AM, peter waterman wrote:

> Also persuasive!
> 
> PeterW
> 
> On Fri, May 25, 2012 at 8:29 PM, Ran Greenstein <rangreen at sn.apc.org> wrote:
> The special word is needed for analytical purposes, even if it may not
> carry particular moral or legal consequences. It is useful if it gives
> rise to interesting questions about motivations, mode of organisation
> of perpetrators, the choices available (or not) to victims or
> potential victims, and so on. In other words, it is useful if it
> directs our attention to certain issues in need of analysis. It is not
> useful if it serves merely as a label to castigate some actions but
> not others.
> 
> On Fri, May 25, 2012 at 8:10 PM, Max Ajl <max.ajl at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Peter:
> >
> > What is the phenomenon for which we are using the concept? Mass killings?
> > "Ethnically motivated" mass killings? Killings intended to destroy "in whole
> > or in part" a group sharing ethnic, national, religious etc characteristics?
> >
> > The sets of mass killings we group under the rubric "genocide" occur for a
> > range of reasons, almost never, even in the Jewish case, being pure
> > instances of "racial hatred," but with racial hatred playing a greater or
> > lesser role in each case. Why do we need a special word for mass killings
> > carried out for (purportedly) "racial" reasons? Why do we need to set them
> > apart from mass killings carried out purely instrumentally (like the mass
> > killings of the Communist in Indonesia, or American carpet bombing in
> > Indochina etc)?
> >
> 
> --
> Ran Greenstein
> Johannesburg, South Africa
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