Conceptions of Genocide and Perceptions of History

Abstract

Conceptions of genocide profoundly shape our perceptions of history. Is genocide rare or common? Which events are genocides and which, however objectionable or horrifying, are not? Which persons or groups are victims of genocide, which are perpetrators, and which are neither -- or both? Our perception of historical events as genocides depends not only on what happened in the past -- who did what to whom for what reasons, under what circumstances, and with what results? -- but also on how we conceptualize genocide: which combinations of perpetrators, actions, victims, reasons, circumstances, and results constitute genocide and which do not?