Spatiality of the Stages of Genocide: The Armenian Case

Abstract

This article describes the construction of a historical GIS (HGIS) of the Armenian genocide and itsapplication to study how the genocide unfolded spatially and temporally using stage modelsproposed by Gregory Stanton. The Kazarian manuscript provided a daily record of events related tothe genocide during 1914-1923 and served as a primary source. Models outlining and describing thestages of genocide provide a structured and vetted approach to studying the spatial and temporalaspects of the genocidal process, especially genocide by attrition. This article links HGIS to aqualitative, historical source and describes the uncertainties that arise when mapping historicalevents. While the genocide literature is abundant in areas related to theory and practice, examples ofexplicitly spatial analyses are lacking. Our contribution aims at filling this gap.