Genocide studies

Genocide studies is an academic field of study that researches genocide. Genocide became a field of study in the mid-1940s, with the work of Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term genocide and is the field's founding father. The Holocaust was initially the primary subject matter of genocide studies, and the field received an extra impetus in the 1990s, when the Rwandan genocide took place.

1940s

The beginning of genocide research arose around the 1940s when Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer, began studying genocide.[1] Known as the "father of the genocide convention", Lemkin invented the term genocide and studied it during the Second World War.[2] In 1944, Lemkin's book Axis Rule introduced his idea of genocide, which he defined as "the destruction of a nation or ethnic group". After his book was published, controversy broke out concerning the specific definition. Many scholars believed that genocide is naturally associated with mass murder, the Holocaust being the first case, but there were also several other scholars who believed genocide has a much broader definition and is not strictly tied to the Holocaust.[3] In Lemkin's book, he says that "physical and biological genocide are always preceded by cultural genocide or by an attack on the symbols of the group or violent interference of cultural activities."[4] He concludes that genocide is the annihilation of a group's culture even if the group themselves are not completely destroyed.[5]

1990s

Starting off as a side field to the Holocaust studies, a few scholars around the period continued Lemkin's genocide research, and in the 1900s, the field saw a tremendous growth in academic journals such as the Journal of Genocide Research, Genocide Studies and Prevention, and the German academic journal Zeitschrift für Genozidforschung (Journal of Genocide Research). The major reason for this increase in research can be traced back to the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s, which showed Western scholars the prevalence of genocide.[6]

Gender

The study of genocide connected to gender has not been around that long and is still considered a side to genocide research in general. This small field was ignited after the genocides of Bosnia-Herzegonia and Rwanda where several women were raped and men were sexually abused.[7] Feminist scholars also study the differences between males and females during genocide, by studying the lives of women survivors during the Holocaust.[8]

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See also

References

Footnotes
  1. Bloxham & Moses 2010, p. 2; Moses 2010, p. 22.
  2. Bloxham & Moses 2010, p. 2; Moses 2010, pp. 19, 21.
  3. Moses 2010, p. 32.
  4. Moses 2010, p. 34.
  5. Moses 2010, p. 35.
  6. Bloxham & Moses 2010, p. 2.
  7. Von Joeden-Forgey 2010, p. 61.
  8. Von Joeden-Forgey 2010, p. 63.

Bibliography
Bloxham, Donald; Moses, A. Dirk (2010). "Editors' Introduction: Changing Themes in the Study of Genocide". In Bloxham, Donald; Moses, A. Dirk (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Genocide Studies. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 1–15. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199232116.013.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-923211-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Moses, A. Dirk (2010). "Raphael Lemkin, Culture, and the Concept of Genocide". In Bloxham, Donald; Moses, A. Dirk (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Genocide Studies. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 19ff. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199232116.013.0002. ISBN 978-0-19-923211-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Von Joeden-Forgey, Elisa (2010). "Gender and Genocide". In Bloxham, Donald; Moses, A. Dirk (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Genocide Studies. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 61ff. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199232116.013.0004. ISBN 978-0-19-923211-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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