Barbaric Civilization: A Critical Sociology of Genocide

by Christopher John Powell

From its beginnings in the early twelfth century, the Western civilizing process has involved two interconnected transformations: the monopolization of military force by sovereign states and the cultivation in individuals of habits and dispositions of the kind that we call "civilized." The combined forward movement of these processes channels violent struggles for social dominance into symbolic performances. But even as the civilizing process frees many subjects from the threat of direct physical force, violence accumulates behind the scenes and at the margins of the social order, kept there by a deeply habituated performance of dominance and subordination called deferentiation. When deferentiation fails, difference becomes dangerous and genocide becomes possible. Connecting historical developments with everyday life occurrences, and discussing examples ranging from thirteenth-century Languedoc to 1994 Rwanda, Powell offers an original framework for analyzing, comparing, and discussing genocides as variable outcomes of a common underlying social system, raising unsettling questions about the contradictions of Western civilization and the possibility of a world without genocide.

Genres: Sociology

368 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2011

Reviews

[George Kettler]

Genocide is a difficult topic that comes with many questions. What constitutes genocide? Why does it happen in so many places and time periods? What causes it? Barbaric Civilization tries to answer some of these. The first half of the book takes a critical approach to genocide as a sociological concept. The author does a good job of accessing different theories about genocide but in the forth chapter when he puts forth his own it seems a bit byzantine and incomprehensible. The second half of the book is where the author really shines. Talking case studies of six different genocides, the author really digs deep into what genocide is and why it happens. A bit long winded and difficult to follow at times but over all an excellent contribution to genocide studies