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CALL FOR PAPER: A SPECIAL ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL OF GENOCIDE RESEARCH "RAPHAEL LEMKIN: 'ON GENOCIDES'. THE 'FATHER OF THE GENOCIDE CONVENTION' AS A HISTORIAN"
Dominik J. Schaller (University of Zürich) and Jürgen Zimmerer (Universidade de Coimbra) will edit a special issue of the Journal of Genocide Research, to be published in autumn 2005.
"New conceptions require new terms. By 'genocide' we mean the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group." Rarely in history have paradigmatic changes in scholarship been brought about with such few words. Putting the quintessential crime of modernity in only one sentence, Raphael Lemkin, the Polish Jewish specialist in international law, not only summarized the horrors of the National Socialist crimes, which were still under way, when he wrote them, but also influenced international law. As the founding figure of the UN-Genocide- Convention Lemkin is widely-known and held in highest regard. Less known is his contribution to the historical scholarship on genocide. It is this part of his influence that the planned volume will address.
In the emerging debate on colonialism and genocide, Lemkin is now often referred to as theorist of a genocide concept that ignores the European settlement of the various "New Worlds". Consequently, various authors try to infer his potential opinion on colonialism. In so doing, they ignore the fact that Lemkin himself wrote extensively on the subject in a series of - albeit unpublished – articles. The special volume of JGR, which we are about to publish will analyze this almost forgotten work. It will reveal Lemkin as a scholar of even greater scope than preciously envisioned.
In several chapters, Lemkin's work on mass violence in the classical period, medieval times, African, American and Australian colonialism will be analyzed and presented. Comparing them to his better known works on the Armenians and the National Socialist mass crimes will foster a better understanding of his concept of genocide and be an important contribution to the history of genocide historiography.
Papers might focus on:
Mass Murder in Antiquity
Mass Murder in the Middle Ages
Genocide in the New World (America and Australia)
Genocide in the 20th Century (Africa)
Armenian Genocide
Holocaust
Proposals (max 3 pages) for papers addressing these and related questions should be submitted together with a short curriculum vitae by March 1, 2004to one of the guest editors:
Dominik J. Schaller
David Hess-Weg 10
8038 Zürich
Switzerland
rickscafe@bluemail.ch
Dr. Jürgen Zimmerer
Rua Alves Torgo, 25,1° esq.
P-5000-679
Portugal
Juergenzimmerer@freenet.de
The articles, which should be a maximum of 6500 words including documentation, will be due at December 1, 2004.
Please share this information with interested colleagues!
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