The Politics of Annihilation: A Genealogy of Genocide

Author:   Benjamin Meiches
Publisher:   University of Minnesota Press
ISBN:  

9781517905828


Pages:   328
Publication Date:   19 March 2019
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable   Availability explained
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The Politics of Annihilation: A Genealogy of Genocide


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Overview

How did a powerful concept in international justice evolve into an inequitable response to mass suffering? For a term coined just seventy-five years ago, genocide has become a remarkably potent idea. But has it transformed from a truly novel vision for international justice into a conservative, even inaccessible term?  BenjaminMeiches traces how the concept of genocide came to acquire such significance onthe global political stage. By mapping the multiplicity of forces that entanglethe concept in larger assemblages of power, he provides a new understanding ofhow the language of genocide impacts contemporary political life, especially asa means of protesting the social conditions that produce mass violence.

Full Product Details

Author:   Benjamin Meiches
Publisher:   University of Minnesota Press
Imprint:   University of Minnesota Press
Dimensions:   Width: 14.00cm , Height: 3.80cm , Length: 21.60cm
ISBN:  

9781517905828


ISBN 10:   1517905826
Pages:   328
Publication Date:   19 March 2019
Audience:   General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable   Availability explained
The supplier advises that this item is temporarily unavailable. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out to you.

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Reviews

Concepts are always political-and perhaps never more so than when they classify and rank the evils that can befall human beings. Benjamin Meiches's extraordinary genealogy of the notion of genocide since its coinage during World War II is especially welcome, blending empirical cases, historical perspectives, and theoretical considerations in an ideal fashion. Emphasizing the lability of this concept before it was fixed in our time, for better or worse, Meiches shows how talk of genocide has allowed for moralizing in a violent world, even as it obstructs other perspectives that the future will require. -Samuel Moyn, Yale Law School


""Concepts are always political—and perhaps never more so than when they classify and rank the evils that can befall human beings. Benjamin Meiches’s extraordinary genealogy of the notion of genocide since its coinage during World War II is especially welcome, blending empirical cases, historical perspectives, and theoretical considerations in an ideal fashion. Emphasizing the lability of this concept before it was fixed in our time, for better or worse, Meiches shows how talk of genocide has allowed for moralizing in a violent world, even as it obstructs other perspectives that the future will require."" —Samuel Moyn, Yale Law School ""A well-written, cogently argued, significant contribution to a nuanced understanding of how the idea of genocide has emerged and why it matters to world politics.""—CHOICE ""A far-reaching critique of mainstream presumptions in the field and beyond, Annihilation presents theoretically-sophisticated engagements with a vast array of genocide scholarship backed by numerous case studies.""—PoLAR ""The Politics of Annihilation is a valuable contribution to current scholarship on genocide, considerably expanding the scope of the field. Its originality is compounded by an extensive and demonstrable breadth of knowledge, and its critical appraisal makes it both a pertinent resource and a rich point of departure for future research.""—H-Net Reviews ""The Politics of Annihilation is a wide-ranging and insightful deep dive into the contested, often controversial, and complex discursive politics of genocide.""—The Review of Politics  ""Meiches has successfully provided a deep dive into discursive tussles and contestations that have unfolded underneath the ‘stable’ assumptions of the concept of genocide  as  we  know  it, highlighting  not  only  the  fluid  ground  on  which much of our understanding of the concept rests, but also how these assumptions shape action.""—International Affairs 


Concepts are always political-and perhaps never more so than when they classify and rank the evils that can befall human beings. Benjamin Meiches's extraordinary genealogy of the notion of genocide since its coinage during World War II is especially welcome, blending empirical cases, historical perspectives, and theoretical considerations in an ideal fashion. Emphasizing the lability of this concept before it was fixed in our time, for better or worse, Meiches shows how talk of genocide has allowed for moralizing in a violent world, even as it obstructs other perspectives that the future will require. -Samuel Moyn, Yale Law School A well-written, cogently argued, significant contribution to a nuanced understanding of how the idea of genocide has emerged and why it matters to world politics. -CHOICE A far-reaching critique of mainstream presumptions in the field and beyond, Annihilation presents theoretically-sophisticated engagements with a vast array of genocide scholarship backed by numerous case studies. -PoLAR The Politics of Annihilation is a valuable contribution to current scholarship on genocide, considerably expanding the scope of the field. Its originality is compounded by an extensive and demonstrable breadth of knowledge, and its critical appraisal makes it both a pertinent resource and a rich point of departure for future research. -H-Net Reviews The Politics of Annihilation is a wide-ranging and insightful deep dive into the contested, often controversial, and complex discursive politics of genocide. -The Review of Politics Meiches has successfully provided a deep dive into discursive tussles and contestations that have unfolded underneath the 'stable' assumptions of the concept of genocide as we know it, highlighting not only the fluid ground on which much of our understanding of the concept rests, but also how these assumptions shape action. -International Affairs


Author Information

Benjamin Meiches is assistant professor of security studies and conflict resolution at the University of WashingtonTacoma.

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