What is the Value of Comparing Different Genocides? - PO-3330 - Zev Cooper-Bennun
In this essay I will argue that there is definite value through the
comparative study of different genocides—specifically, though, I will argue that
the utility of such methods lies not primarily with the formulation and testing of
larger overarching theories, but by utilising comparisons to reveal and confirm
particular and distinct similarities, as close to empirical as possible, between
distinct genocidal events, before utilising the differences between them to
construct lines of development potentially able to provide researchers with the
tools for speculative insight into future potential genocides. I will attempt to
show the potential utility for this method through two examples. First, I will
examine the role of communicative technologies in three very temporally and
technologically distinct genocides—the Holocaust, Rwanda, and modern day
Myanmar. Second, I will focus on the role of law and 'legitimate' state apparatus
in the run up to genocidal events, with a particular focus on the rhetorical and
political division of 'natives' and 'migrants' by governments. My aim is not only
to provide an early overview of a speculative method I believe can provide a lot
of utility, but to provide preliminary examples for said method, before
concluding with an overview of how such empirical-speculative methods can be
intertwined with other comparative methods, and a general usage-philosophy
for them.
To start, let us examine the example of communicative technology and its
uses. Importantly, for the sake of this essay, communicative technology is that
which allows broad and large-scale communication, beyond the in-person and
interpersonal. This, crucially, can include anything as complex as social media to
as comparatively simple as the printing press. This broadness is crucial for a
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