Extremely Violent Societies: Mass Violence in the Twentieth-Century World
Cambridge University Press, 10/14/2010
EAN 9780521706810, ISBN10: 0521706815
Paperback, 502 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.9 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
In this groundbreaking book Christian Gerlach traces the social roots of the extraordinary processes of human destruction involved in mass violence throughout the twentieth century. He argues that terms such as 'genocide' and 'ethnic cleansing' are too narrow to explain the diverse motives and interests that cause violence to spread in varying forms and intensities. From killings and expulsions to enforced hunger, collective rape, strategic bombing, forced labour and imprisonment he explores what happened before, during, and after periods of widespread bloodshed in countries such as Armenia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nazi-occupied Greece and in anti-guerilla wars worldwide in order to highlight the crucial role of socio-economic pressures in the generation of group conflicts. By focussing on why so many different people participated in or supported mass violence, and why different groups were victimized, he offers us a new way of understanding one of the most disturbing phenomena of our times.
1. Introduction
extremely violent societies
Part I. Participatory Violence
2. A coalition for violence
mass slaughter in Indonesia, 1965–66
3. Participating and profiteering
the destruction of the Armenians, 1915–23
Part II. The Crisis of Society
4. From rivalries between elites to a crisis of society
mass violence and famine in Bangladesh (East Pakistan), 1971–77
5. Sustainable violence
strategic resettlement, militias and 'development' in anti-guerrilla warfare
6. What connects the fate of different victim groups? The German occupation and Greek society in crisis
Part III. General Observations
7. The ethnization of history
the historiography of mass violence and national identity construction
8. Conclusions.
'In this pathbreaking book, Christian Gerlach undermines the tunnel-vision of mainstream genocide research. Introducing a challenging new theoretical approach, Gerlach convincingly demonstrates the messy, complex patterns of mass violence in the modern world. Everyone interested in these issues will enrich their understanding by engaging with his arguments and case-studies.' Martin Shaw, University of Sussex