Constructing Genocide and Mass Violence

This work seeks to address two closely related questions, what is the process by which the relatively short and violent genocides of the twentieth century and beyond have occurred and why have these instances of mass violence been genocidal and not some other form of state violence, repression, or conflict?

Hiebert seeks to answer these questions by exploring the structures and processes that underpin the decision by political elites to commit genocide, focusing on a sustained comparison of two cases, the Nazi ' Final Solution' and the Cambodian genocide. The work seeks to clearly differentiate the structures and processes, contained within a larger overall process, that leads to genocidal violence. Hiebert uncovers the mechanisms by which societies, at least in the contemporary era, come to experience genocide as a distinct form of destruction and not some other form of mass or political violence, allowing the author to seek to highlight a set of key process that leads to specifically genocidal violence.

Providing an insightful contribution to the burgeoning literature in the area, this work will be of interest to students and scholars of genocide, international relations and political violence.

Maureen S. Hiebert is Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Military and Strategic Studies, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada