Governments, Citizens, and Genocide
Subtitle: A Comparative and Interdisciplinary
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: April 1, 2001
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 240
ISBN-13: 9780253338495
Subjects: Cultural studies; Political science & theory; Crime And Criminals; Political And Civil Rights; Social Science; Sociology; Criminology; History & Theory - General; Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights; Genocide
First sentence: If war is, as Alfred Nobel suggested, "the horror of all horrors, and the greatest of all crimes," then the crime of genocide must surely be its terrible twin.
Description: "Governments, Citizens, and Genocide discusses the crime of genocide through a distinctly social science lens, with specific references to the ideas and concepts that have been developed to explain criminal behavior. It begins with a discussion of the problems in defining genocide and proceeds to examine genocide from macro, meso, and micro levels.

By connecting these three points of analysis, Alvarez provides a more complete understanding of genocide than have narrower studies focusing on only one aspect of this crime. Beginning with the macro level, Alvarez reviews the role of the state in perpetrating genocide, with the rationale that genocide is invariably created and carried out by governments and their agents. He then explores the organizational level, since genocide is perpetrated by individuals acting in their capacities as governmental administrators.

The third level of analysis examines the ways in which ordinary citizens come to participate."--BOOK JACKET.