ETHR1016 – The Morality of Massacres and Genocides
Ethnic cleansing and genocides are seen as abhorrent acts committed by a deranged minority, the result of a ‘dark side’ of human behavior that is unethical, exceptional and incomprehensible. This course challenges this view, investigates the sources of mass killings in the modern world, and asks the question: “Why genocide?”
Using the most tragic examples of ethnic cleansing (such as colonial genocides, Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Yugoslavia and Rwanda) as well as cases of lesser violence (Modern Europe, India and Indonesia), the course suggests that extreme political violence and ethnic extermination are not simply the work of ‘evil elites’ or ‘primitives’, but the result of complex interactions between leaders, militants and ‘ordinary’ persons.
This aspect of ‘ordinary’ people becoming the perpetrators of ‘evil’ acts is important, for not only were most episodes of ethnic massacres and genocides seen as ‘moral’ at the time they were committed; such an ethical perception was an essential condition for these massacres to take place. In the hope that our understanding of this process will help us avoid ethnic cleansing in the future, the course explores the causes, triggers, domestic and international context, implementation, nature and uses of genocide as a political phenomenon.
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
- Understand the unique nature of the concept of ethnic massacres and genocides;
- Be familiar with the historical contexts of ethnic massacres and genocides;
- Understand the underlying logic of genocidal violence;
- Understand the role of nationalism and democracy in developing genocidal policies;
- Examine how political leaders and ordinary people come to make genocidal decisions;
- Understand the role of the media in legitimizing ethnic massacres and genocides;
- Understand the role played by ethics in the legitimization of genocide.