Genocide in the Age of the Nation State : Volume 1: The Meaning of Genocide

"How should we understand genocide in the modern world? As an aberration from the norms of a dominant liberal international society? Or rather as a guide to the very dysfunctional nature of the international system itself? "The Meaning of Genocide" is the first work of its nature to consider the phenomenon within a broad context of world historical development. In this book, Mark Levene sets out the conceptual issues in the study of genocide, addressing the fundamental problems of defining genocide and understanding what we mean by perpetrators and victims, before placing it in the context of world history. "The Meaning of Genocide" is the first of a major four-volume survey which examines its subject within an extensive global and historical framework and which will become the definitive work on the subject."--Bloomsbury Publishing. How should we understand genocide in the modern world? As an aberration from the norms of a dominant liberal international society? Or rather as a guide to the very dysfunctional nature of the international system itself?The Meaning of Genocide is the first work of its nature to consider the phenomenon within a broad context of world historical development. In this book, Mark Levene sets out the conceptual issues in the study of genocide, addressing the fundamental problems of defining genocide and understanding what we mean by perpetrators and victims, before placing the phenomenon in the context of world history. In an original and compelling argument, Levene seeks to explain how state violence against a range of groups has emerged in tandem with the rise of the West to global dominance and the emergence of increasingly streamlined, homogenous states. Levene contends that it is in the relationship of these nation-states to each other that we will find the well-springs of some of the most poisonous tendencies in the modern world. Thought provoking and beautifully constructed, The Meaning of Genocide is the first of a major four-volume survey, Genocide in the Age of the Nation State, which examines its subject within an extensive global and historical framework and which will become the definitive work on the subject. How should we understand genocide in the modern world? As an aberration from the norms of a dominant liberal international society? Or rather as a guide to the very dysfunctional nature of the international system itself? Genocide in the Age of the Nation State is the first work to consider the phenomenon within a broad context of world historical development. In this book, Mark Levene sets out the conceptual issues in the study of genocide, addressing the fundamental problems of defining genocide and understanding what we mean by perpetrators and victims, before placing the phenomenon in the context of world history. Genocide in the Age of the Nation State is the first of a major four-volume survey which examines its subject within an extensive global and historical framework and which will become the definitive work on the subject. How should we understand genocide in the modern world? As an aberration from the norms of a dominant liberal international society? Or rather as a guide to the very dysfunctional nature of the international system itself? This is the first book to consider the phenomenon within a broad context of world historical development. In this first volume of a major four-volume survey, Mark Levene sets out the conceptual issues in the study of genocide and the historical linkage between the rise of the West, in both its modern and early modern domestic and colonial settings, and increasing tendencies to physically annihilate native peoples or religiously heterodox communal groups who stood as obstacles in its path. Considers the phenomenon of Genocide within the context of world historical development. This book sets out the conceptual issues in the study of genocide, addressing the basic problems of defining genocide and understanding what we mean by perpetrators and victims, before placing it in the context of world history. It is a four-volume survey Acknowledgements -- Preface -- An Introduction to Genocide in the Age of the Nation-State -- The Meaning of Genocide -- Chapter 1. Definitional Conundrums -- Chapter 2. Perpetrators, Victims and Collective Unreason -- Chapter 3. Continuity and Discontinuity in the Historical Record -- Notes -- Select Bibliography -- Index