Synopses & Reviews
How do societies come to terms with the aftermath of genocide and mass violence, and how might the international community contribute to this process? Recently, transitional justice mechanisms such as tribunals and truth commissions have emerged as a favored means of redress.and#160;Transitional Justice, the first edited collection in anthropology focused directly on this issue, argues that, however well-intentioned, transitional justice needs to more deeply grapple with the complexities of global and transnational involvements and the local on-the-ground realities with which they intersect.Contributors consider what justice means and how it is negotiated in different localities where transitional justice efforts are underway after genocide and mass atrocity. They address a variety of mechanisms, among them, a memorial site in Bali, truth commissions in Argentina and Chile, First Nations treaty negotiations in Canada, violent youth groups in northern Nigeria, the murder of young women in post-conflict Guatemala, and the gacaca courts in Rwanda.
Review
andquot;This superb collection of essays illustrates well the messiness that underlies the evolving concept of transitional justice. By casting an anthropological eye on the real world of local justiceandmdash;on the ground and buffeted by history, politics, globalized discourse, rituals, and power relationshipsandmdash;this volume makes an important contribution to our understanding of transitional justice and in particular, the assumptions that have framed its initiation and development. Most importantly, these essays raise the critical question of whether we have limited our perspectives prematurely and accepted too restrictive a definition of the field.andquot;
Review
"By casting an anthropological eye on the messy world of local justice, these penetrating essays raise the critical question of whether we have limited our perspectives prematurely and accepted too restrictive a definition of the field." --Harvey M. Weinstein
Review
andquot;Transitional justice offers great promise of reconciling past wrongs and conflicts, but we know relatively little about its local effects. This excellent anthropological collection gives a rich and complex story of how it works in practice.andquot;
Review
andquot;Hidden Genocides is a penetrating scholarly searchlight illuminating an important and previously obscured landscape.andquot;
Review
andquot;By problematizing, both theoretically and empirically, the canon of genocide studies, thisand#160;collection makes an important contribution to an underdeveloped field.andquot;
Review
andquot;Hidden Genocides is a timely collection of critical essays that effectively engages scholars in rethinking the way we conceptualize, approach, and teach genocide studies. A must-read for a wide-range of scholars.andquot;
Review
andquot;Davidson does not shy away from controversy as he seeks to challenge the thought collectives that justify everything from bulldozing villages and cultural sites to banning languages and religious practices. Recommended.andquot;
Review
andquot;Davidson provides us with a unique and creative way of looking at the phenomenon of collective violence and constructs a provocative, carefully argued, and at times unsettling, critique of the simplistic models.andquot;
Review
andquot;Hinton, La Pointe, and Irvin-Erickson offer a useful prism through which to examine and weigh conventional accounts of genocide. It reveals cover-ups and makes the invisible visible.andquot;
Review
andquot;Hidden Genocides collection is an essential guide to the latest scholarship on genocide studies from an international and comparative perspective.andquot;
Synopsis
Why are some cases of genocide prominently remembered while others are ignored, hidden, or denied? In this collection, contributors approach the question from a variety of perspectives and case studies, including the suppression of discussion about indigenous populations in the Americas and Australia, the reasons why the genocide of the Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks long remained out of sight, and the violence that was the precursor to and the aftermath of the Holocaust.
About the Author
ALEXANDER LABAN HINTON is the director of the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights and a professor of anthropology and global affairs at Rutgers University, Newark. He is the author of the award-winning Why Did They Kill?: Cambodia in the Shadow of Genocide and six edited collections.
THOMAS LA POINTE is a member of the Center for Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation and an assistant professor of literature and composition at Bergen Community College. He has taught at the Shanghai International Studies University, China, and served as a journalist at the Institute for Central American Studies, Costa Rica.
DOUGLAS IRVIN-ERICKSON is an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Genocide, Conflict Resolution, and Human Rights at Rutgers University, Newark.
Table of Contents
1. Theoretical Foundations
2. Cultural Genocide and the American Indians
3. Russia and the Jews in the Nineteenth Century
4. Israel and Palestinian Cultural Genocide
5. The Chinese Assimilation of Tibet
6. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index