Book Review: Genocide: A Normative Account
Academics studying genocide are required, amid the exigency of predicting and preventing further instances of this crime, to extend their efforts so as to connect with policy makers, provide vital information, respond to particular instances of genocide or state-inspired genocidal campaigns, and pr...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
European Institute of Romania
2015-03-01
|
| Series: | Romanian Journal of European Affairs |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://rjea.ier.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/articole/RJEA_2014_vol15_no1_art.6.pdf |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Academics studying genocide are required, amid the exigency of predicting
and preventing further instances of this crime, to extend their efforts so as to connect with policy makers, provide vital information, respond to particular instances of genocide or state-inspired genocidal campaigns, and prompt a political will to intervene at any stage in this crime. May starts by placing genocide studies in the normative foundation of this discipline. In this work, which stands as the fourth volume of a broader project that assesses the “conceptual and normative underpinnings of this ‘crime of crimes’”, genocide is treated as the most serious of all international crimes. May calls for additional work to be performed to include other forms and conceptualizations of genocide such as cultural genocide and ethnic cleansing. The book outlines the fundamental concepts behind the crime, its study, and the discipline, while offering a unique presentation of “special problems of genocide”. It also considers steps that should be taken forward with the view of facilitating reconciliation. May refers to war as the final response to genocidal situations, not the first, stating that, “there are situations where there is not unambiguous groups of victims”. Thus, humanitarian intervention, as a viable approach to mitigating acts of genocide, is still difficult to justify. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1582-8271 1841-4273 |