Ton Zwaan
On Genocide, An Introduction
This article is primarily a short introduction in the field of genocide studies. Building on the work of many others, it outlines some of the most important dimensions of genocide and presents some of the main results of genocide studies so far. The focus is on aspects about which most genocide scholars agree, less attention is paid to differences in perspective.
The concept of 'genocide' is not yet fixed, still relatively open, and in development. At present a broad, open, comparative, and processual historical-sociological approach to the phenomenon and the concept seems preferable. Aiming to arrive at a working and 'sensitizing' understanding of crimes of genocidal intent the Author summarizes points
on which nearly all authors agree; that genocide has to be carefully distinguished from war and civil war; that genocides happen during phases or episodes of grave crisis of and in a state-society; that the political behaviour of the national political leadership of a state-society is of central and crucial importance for the development of genocidal policy; that genocide is a complex process in space and time; that ideology plays a major role in genocide and should be seen as an important causative force; and, finally, that it is also necessary and important to look at the genocidal process from the perspective of the victims.