Purify and Destroy
Subtitle: The Political Uses of Massacre and Genocide (The CERI Series in Comparative Politics and International Studies)
Contributors: Michael J. Dwyer (Contributor); Stanley Hoffman (Introduction)
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: August 1, 2007
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 352
ISBN-13: 9780231142823
Subjects: Genocide; International relations; Violence in Society; Social Science; Ethnic Issues; Politics / Current Events; Sociology; Demography; History & Theory - General; Social Science / Ethnic Studies; Ethnic Studies - General; General
Description: "Purify and Destroy demonstrates that it is indeed possible to compare the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia Herzegovina while respecting the specificities of each of these appalling phenomena." "Based on seminal distinction between massacre and genocide, Purify and Destroy identifies the main steps of a general process of destruction, both rational and irrational, born of what Semelin terms "delusional rationality." Semelin identifies the main stages that can lead to a genocidal process, and explains how ordinary people can become perpetrators."--Jacket.