Genocides by the Oppressed: Subaltern Genocide in Theory and Practice

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INDIANA University Press Bloomington & Indianapolis http://iupress.indiana.edu 1-800-842-6796 Genocides by the Oppressed Edited by Nicholas A. Robins and Adam Jones Subaltern Genocide in Theory and Practice Genocides by the Oppressed Robins and Jones INDIANA Political Science Anthropology “The study of comparative genocide is one of the most important of our era. By focusing on acts of genocide (or near genocide) committed by oppressed people (or people who imagine themselves to be oppressed) this book sheds light on an important dimension of the problem.” —Roger Smith, College of William and Mary In the last two decades, the field of comparative genocide studies has flourished. The result is an increasingly rich literature on the targeting of various groups for extermination and other atrocities, throughout history and around the contemporary world. However, the phenomenon of genocides by the oppressed—retributive genocidal actions carried out by subaltern actors—has received little attention. The prominence in such genocides of non-state actors, combined with the moral ambiguities of retributive acts that arise in analyzing genocidal acts “from below,” have so far dissuaded serious investigation. Genocides by the Oppressed seeks to address this oversight, opening the subject of subaltern genocide for exploration by scholars of genocide, ethnic conflict, and human rights. Focusing on case studies of such genocide, the authors explore its sociological, anthropological, psychological, symbolic, and normative dimensions. The contributors are Alexander Laban Hinton, Eric Langenbacher, Evelin G. Lindner, David B. MacDonald, E. O. Smith, and Christopher C. Taylor. Nicholas A. Robins is a lecturer in the Department of History at North Carolina State University. He is author of Native Insurgencies and the Genocidal Impulse in the Americas (Indiana University Press, 2005); Genocide and Millennialism in Upper Peru: The Great Rebellion of 1780–1782; and The Culture of Conflict in Modern Cuba. Adam Jones is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan in Kelowna, BC. He is author or editor of a dozen books, including Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction. Cover illustration: A slave revolt in Saint-Domingue Genocides by the Oppressed Subaltern Genocide in Theory and Practice Edited by Nicholas A. Robins and Adam Jones INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS Bloomington and Indianapolis This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA http://iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax order 812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail iuporder@indiana.edu© 2009 by Indiana University Press All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsof American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Genocides by the oppressed : subaltern genocide in theory and practice / edited by Nicholas A. Robins and Adam Jones. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-253-35309-2 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-22077-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Genocide. 2. Ethnic conflict. I. Robins, Nicholas A., 1964– II. Jones, Adam, 1963– HV6322.7.G488 2009 364.15'1—dc22 2008043164 1 2 3 4 5 14 13 12 11 10 09 ...