The concentration camp and development: the pasts and future of genocide.

CRIMES against humanity; GENOCIDE; ETHNIC relations; CONCENTRATION camps; DETENTION of persons; POLITICAL crimes & offenses

Our conception of history remains largely tethered both to the notion of Europe as the epicentre of history and to categories of knowledge that may not be particularly productive of meaning in the present and near future. Eric Hobsbawm's short twentieth century is bookended by 1914, the year the Great War commenced, and 1991, which witnessed the break-up of the Soviet Union. Nationalists in countries such as India imagined Japan's victory over Russia in 1905 as the beginning of a new dawn, and similarly the gruesome genocide in Rwanda in 1994, which occurred despite the hoarse shouts of ‘Never Again’ that emanated in the wake of the Holocaust, stands forth as testimony to the brutal violence that above all characterized the twentieth century. We might say that the twentieth century has been interminably long, originating in some respects in General Sherman's still unrepudiated doctrine of total terror, and is still with us. Lal suggests that our understanding of genocide remains similarly hobbled by the definitions offered in the International Convention on Genocide and other legal instruments, and that even less restrictive applications of legal conventions are likely to be inadequate if we are to anticipate future genocides. Hindutva, or extreme Hindu nationalism, to take one example, targets not only Muslims but even, more spectacularly so, ‘soft’ Hindus. It has genocidal impulses towards the practitioners of a religion that it purports to defend, viewing Hinduism as a chaotic, polycentric and indefensible faith. What will the concentration camps of the future look like? Lal moves to a detailed consideration of the statist and evolutionist doctrine of development, and concludes with some thoughts on the invisible holocausts committed, or likely to be committed, in the name of development, the ‘international community’ and other supposed verities of the human condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Patterns of Prejudice is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)