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Second-Generation Comparative Research on Genocide

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MarkLevene. Genocide in the Age of the Nation State.London:I. B. Tauris, 2005Vol. 1. The Meaning of Genocide, 266 pp. Vol. 2. The Rise of the West and the Coming of Genocide, vol. 2, 463 pp.

MichaelMann. The Dark Side of Democracy: Explaining Ethnic Cleansing.New York:Cambridge University Press, 2005, 580 pp.

Manus I.Midlarsky. The Killing Trap: Genocide in the Twentieth Century.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 2005, 463 pp.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2011

Scott Straus
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison, sstraus@wisc.edu
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Abstract

Comparative research on the determinants of genocide has surged in recent years, as reflected in the six books under review. The new research makes genocide studies more systematic and theoretical; integrates the topic into mainstream social science disciplines; points to three emerging explanatory paradigms; and yields some surprising cumulative findings. However, the works also reveal significant conceptual, empirical, and methodological problems that limit the comparative enterprise and the search for a general theory. The article argues for an alternative, disaggregated approach that situates genocide within a spectrum of organized violence against civilians and links genocide studies to studies of violence in war.

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Review Article
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 2007

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