Photograph by Rev. Wilfredo Benitez for Orange County for Darfur.
April was Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month. In honor of this, we compiled a Resource List of books and films themed around each of the past genocides that have commemorative dates in April, plus the areas that we cover. We hope you will make use of this list as a way to both remember these genocides, and learn more about them.
In April we featured books and films associated with the genocides that have commemorative dates in April, and in May, the regions of our present day efforts. In June, as a final point of focus, we are including books and films about genocide that are not tied to any particular geographical region. This is the tenth post in this series, Genocide.
Recommended Books:
A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, by Samantha Power
From 1993-1996 Samantha Power covered the grisly events in Bosnia and Srebrenica, becoming increasingly frustrated with the United States and their inability to counteract the genocide. “The United States had never in its history intervened to stop genocide and had in fact rarely even made a point of condemning it as it occurred.”
Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing, by James E. Waller
From the Turks’ massacre of Armenians in 1915 through the Serbians’ slaughter of Bosnian and Albanian Muslims during the 1990s, the 20th century was an era of mass killing. Social psychologist Waller develops a four-layered theory of how everyday citizens became involved.
Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide from Sparta to Darfur, by Ben Kiernan
Humans have been slaughtering each other for thousands of years, but only now is the field of genocide studies blooming. This grim account of history notes remarkable parallels in the patterns of mass slaughter, from Carthage to Darfur.
Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond
The book asks and attempts to answer the question, once human kind spread throughout the world, why did differ populations in different locations have such different histories? The modern world ha been shaped by conquest, epidemics and genocide, the ingredients of which rose first in Eurasia. The book’s premise is that those ingredients required the development of agriculture.
Mobilizing the Will to Intervene: Leadership to Prevent Mass Atrocities, by Frank Chalk, Romeo Dallaire, Kyle Matthews, Karla Barqueiro, and Simon Doyle
The recurrences of genocide and crimes against humanity around the world demonstrate that the international community has been largely ineffective in stopping mass atrocities. Drawing on interviews with 80 key figures involved in American and Canadian responses to the Rwandan genocide and the Kosovo crisis, the book explains why and provides a roadmap for change.
Preventing Genocide: Practical Steps toward Early Detection and Effective Action, by David A. Hamburg
Analyzes the problem of mass violence, describes pillars of prevention, and concludes that focal points of knowledge and skill in prevention are essential to identify warnings and to prepare and propose appropriate responses before a genocide begins. It recommends the establishment of international genocide prevention centers in strong institutions and outlines their tasks.
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