Purify and Destroy: The Political Uses of Massacre and Genocide

by Jacques Sémelin, Cynthia Schoch (Translator)

How can we comprehend the sociopolitical processes that give rise to extreme violence, ethnic cleansing, or genocide? A major breakthrough in comparative analysis, Purify and Destroy demonstrates that it is indeed possible to compare the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia-Herzegovina while respecting the specificities of each appalling phenomenon. Jacques Semelin achieves this, in part, by leading his readers through the three examples simultaneously, the unraveling of which sometimes converges but most often diverges.

Semelin's method is multidisciplinary, relying not only on contemporary history but also on social psychology and political science. Based on the seminal distinction between massacre and genocide, Purify and Destroy identifies the main steps of a general process of destruction, both rational and irrational, born of what Semelin terms "delusional rationality." He describes a dynamic structural model with, at its core, the matrix of a social imaginaire that, responding to fears, resentments, and utopias, carves and recarves the social body by eliminating "the enemy." Semelin identifies the main stages that can lead to a genocidal process and explains how ordinary people can become perpetrators. He develops an intellectual framework to analyze the entire spectrum of mass violence, including terrorism, in the twentieth century and before. Strongly critical of today's political instrumentalization of the "genocide" notion, Semelin urges genocide research to stand back from legal and normative definitions and come of age as a discipline in its own right in the social sciences.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Jacques Semelin ou Sémelin, né le 14 avril 1951 au Plessis-Robinson, est un historien et politologue français. Directeur de recherche émérite au CNRS affecté au Centre d'études et de recherches internationales (CERI), il est spécialiste des génocides et des violences extrêmes, des formes de résistances civiles et de sauvetage, et de la survie des Juifs en France durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Depuis 1998, il enseigne à Sciences Po Paris où il a créé un cours pionnier sur les violences de masse.

Reviews

[Pablo García · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un manual sobre la historia de la violencia y el genocidio desde las ciencias sociales (criticando a las ciencias legales). Extremadamente util para el investigador, porque expone bien cómo se ha de estructurar un trabajo de esta índole desentrañando la categoria de análisis de "masacre" e "imaginarios". Sin embargo, no dice nada nuevo Simplemente expone lo que ya se ha dicho y sus problemáticas, desgajando todo el proceso de una masacre. Un libro interesante y el final es de buena ayuda. 8/10

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant analysis of the darkest side of humanity.

[Edo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best analysis on genicide so far

[Iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indispensable pour quiconque s'intéresse à comprendre la guerre, les massacres et génocides.

[Misarweth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent ouvrage complet et suffisament riche en exemples, références pour être un véritable outil de base. De plus l'auteur nous livre ici une matière riche qu'il maîtrise parfaitement selon une problématique intéressante et fournie. Le langage n'est absoluement pas une barrière et peut être lu plus facilement que certains autres ouvrages, ce qui loin de lui enlever de la qualité, lui en ajoute...

[Sean Munger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the better books out there in the field of genocide studies, mainly because Semelin does not get pulled into the vortex that plagues almost every other author in this field: trying to define "what is genocide." Semelin makes a compelling case for what he calls "politicized fantasy" leading to outbreaks of mass violence. A very interesting book with some excellent lessons about the political and sociological roots of mass killing.

[Kichi · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most thorough analytical works I've ever read. The scope of the study is enormous yet at no point when I was reading it did I ever notice the depth being compromised. The historical accounts were vividly narrated and were followed by exhaustive criticism which brilliantly made use of a wide array of related sciences. This will be a standard reference for genocide studies in many more years.