Scott Straus, Making and Unmaking Nations: War, Leadership and Genocide in Modern Africa (Cornell University Press, 2015)
Who, in the field of genocide studies, hasn\u2019t at least once used the phrase \u201cThe century of genocide?\u201d \xa0Books carry the title, journalists quote it in interviews and undergrads adopt it.\n\nThere\u2019s nothing wrong with the phrase, as far as it goes. \xa0But, as Scott Straus points out, conceptualizing the century in that way masks a fundamental truth about the period\u2013that there were many more crises that could have led to genocide but which stopped short than there were actual genocides.\n\nAnd this is a problem for the academic study of genocide. \xa0 For if that discipline is at least in part attempting to understand what causes genocides and how to prevent them, ignoring the dog that didn\u2019t bark is a serious challenge.\n\nThis is the point Straus makes in his wonderful new book Making and Unmaking Nations: \xa0War, Leadership and Genocide in Modern Africa\xa0(Cornell University Press, 2015). \xa0A political scientist, Straus looks to address two methodological issues in understanding genocide. \xa0The first is the problem of \xa0the dog that didn\u2019t bark. \xa0The second is the fact that genocide studies often compares genocides that occurs in dramatically different contexts and cultures.\n\nThe result is a wonderfully rich and thought-provoking study. \xa0It\u2019s one that all genocide scholars will need to wrestle with. \xa0And, with Straus a former journalist, non-specialists will find it readable and interesting as well.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/genocide-studies