Unchopping a Tree

Political violence does not end with the last death. A common feature of mass murder has been the attempt to destroy any memory of victims, with the aim of erasing them from history. Perpetrators seek not only to eliminate a perceived threat but also to eradicate any possibility of alternate, competing social and national histories. In this timely and important book, Ernesto Verdeja develops a critical justification for political reconciliation. He asks the questions “What is the balance between punishment and forgiveness?” and “What are the stakes in reconciling?” Developing a normative theory of reconciliation that differs from prevailing approaches, Verdeja outlines a concept that emphasizes the importance of shared notions of moral respect and tolerance among adversaries in transitional societies. Drawing from reconciliation efforts around the world—and interviews with people involved in such endeavors—Verdeja debates how best to envision reconciliation while taking into account the very significant practical obstacles that confront such efforts. Unchopping a Tree addresses the core concept of respect at four different social levels—political, institutional, civil society, and interpersonal—to explain the promise and challenges of securing reconciliation and broader social regeneration

On Situating the Study of Genocide within Political Violence

This article identifies a particular challenge for comparative genocide studies, namely the underem- phasis of investigation into the relationship between genocide and other forms of political violence and the ways in which they are related temporally and spatially. It advocates situating genocide studies within the broader domain of political violence research to explain not only the causes of genocide but general variation in violent outcomes. By systematically comparing genocides to non- genocides, we gain greater insights into the factors that result in large-scale, group-oriented destruc- tion. The article also calls for greater disaggregation of analytical frameworks in comparative research, including the adoption of microanalytical perspectives to explain variation in the onset, dynamics, and abeyance of violence within cases

Predicting Genocide and Mass Atrocities

This article examines several current risk assessment and early warning models to predict genocide and mass atrocities. Risk assessment (RA) concerns a country’s long­-term structural conditions (regime type, state-led discrimination, etc.) that determine overall risk for atrocities. Early warning (EW) focuses on short/midterm dynamics that can serve as triggers. The article evaluates contemporary RA and EW forecast modeling, and asks: How well can we predict mass atrocities and genocide? What are the strengths and limitations to current predictive modeling? Part I examines several quantitative (statistical) RA models and identifies several strengths and limitations in current research. Part II investigates a number of EW approaches, and also discusses their strengths and areas for further development. The article notes the impressive advances that have been made in the past fifteen years in RA and EW, but also counsels realistic expectations the possibilities of forecasting

Critical Genocide Studies and Mass Atrocity Prevention

Critical genocide studies has emerged as an important strand of scholarship devoted to interrogating the core assumptions of the field of genocide studies. Drawing on these developments, this article outlines a critical approach to modern atrocity prevention that is self-reflective, dialectical, multivalent, and anti-teleological. Part I provides a brief overview of contemporary prevention. Part II elaborates the four elements of the proposed critical approach toward prevention. Part III applies this approach to examine several important issue areas in current prevention work: the importance of global and regional contextualization; securitization and state power; conceptualizations of political violence; the status of expert knowledge; and, the place of civil society in prevention. The article is partly based on interviews with atrocity prevention practitioners

Unchopping a Tree

Political violence does not end with the last death. A common feature of mass murder has been the attempt to destroy any memory of victims, with the aim of erasing them from history. Perpetrators seek not only to eliminate a perceived threat but also to eradicate any possibility of alternate, competing social and national histories. In this timely and important book, Ernesto Verdeja develops a critical justification for political reconciliation. He asks the questions “What is the balance between punishment and forgiveness?” and “What are the stakes in reconciling?” Developing a normative theory of reconciliation that differs from prevailing approaches, Verdeja outlines a concept that emphasizes the importance of shared notions of moral respect and tolerance among adversaries in transitional societies. Drawing from reconciliation efforts around the world—and interviews with people involved in such endeavors—Verdeja debates how best to envision reconciliation while taking into account the very significant practical obstacles that confront such efforts. Unchopping a Tree addresses the core concept of respect at four different social levels—political, institutional, civil society, and interpersonal—to explain the promise and challenges of securing reconciliation and broader social regeneration