Generational Trauma and Nationalist Rhetoric as a Basis for Genocide
Location
Access Type
Open Access
Entry Number
12
Start Date
4-7-2021 2:15 PM
End Date
4-7-2021 2:30 PM
Department
Political Science
Abstract
The atrocities that were committed in Rwanda, Bosnia and Armenia could not have been possible without the participation or support of those populations. How is it possible that humans can be convinced to carry out unimaginable atrocities against fellow men and women, many of whom they called friends and neighbors? I will be using the three instances of genocide mentioned above as my case studies to test my hypothesis and determine how trauma and rhetoric led to each genocide.
My thesis will approach this question through studying governments, human behavior, pre-existing conditions, historical trauma, and violent rhetoric to attempt to draw parallels and pinpoint exactly which factors are universal precursors and contributors to genocide. These three cases of genocide provide a diverse range of geographic locations, ethnicities, religions, and socio-economic categories in order to show that genocides are not dependent on these factors and have similar underpinnings despite the variations of the factors above. I will be analyzing how genocide can be perpetuated as the perception of certain groups is changed by rhetoric to dehumanize or have them be considered a threat to the fabric of society. Genocide is more than murder, it is the desire to exterminate an entire people, their culture, their history, and their ability to reproduce and survive. This should never be taken lightly, but our modern globalized world has done little to prevent the continuation of genocides. This must change if we are to have any hope of preventing future brutalities.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Timothy MeinkeDr. Lorna DawsonDr. Brian CrimDr. Nichole Sanders
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Generational Trauma and Nationalist Rhetoric as a Basis for Genocide
The atrocities that were committed in Rwanda, Bosnia and Armenia could not have been possible without the participation or support of those populations. How is it possible that humans can be convinced to carry out unimaginable atrocities against fellow men and women, many of whom they called friends and neighbors? I will be using the three instances of genocide mentioned above as my case studies to test my hypothesis and determine how trauma and rhetoric led to each genocide.
My thesis will approach this question through studying governments, human behavior, pre-existing conditions, historical trauma, and violent rhetoric to attempt to draw parallels and pinpoint exactly which factors are universal precursors and contributors to genocide. These three cases of genocide provide a diverse range of geographic locations, ethnicities, religions, and socio-economic categories in order to show that genocides are not dependent on these factors and have similar underpinnings despite the variations of the factors above. I will be analyzing how genocide can be perpetuated as the perception of certain groups is changed by rhetoric to dehumanize or have them be considered a threat to the fabric of society. Genocide is more than murder, it is the desire to exterminate an entire people, their culture, their history, and their ability to reproduce and survive. This should never be taken lightly, but our modern globalized world has done little to prevent the continuation of genocides. This must change if we are to have any hope of preventing future brutalities.