The Routledge International Handbook of Perpetrator Studies

415 Pages·2019·9.629 MB·English

by  Susanne C. Knittel and Zachary J. Goldberg

The Routledge International
Handbook of Perpetrator Studies
The Routledge International Handbook of Perpetrator Studies provides the first comprehensive
overview of this emerging interdisciplinary field in the humanities and social sciences.
Featuring contributions by scholars from a wide variety of fields and disciplines, the Hand-
book charts the growth and development, foundations, key debates, core concerns, and fron-
tiers of Perpetrator Studies. Focusing on genocide, terrorism, and other forms of political
mass violence, this Handbook addresses questions of guilt and responsibility, definition,
terminology, typology, motivations, group dynamics, memory, trauma, representation, and
pedagogy. Offering a thematic and conceptual approach that facilitates a comparative analysis
across historical, geographic, and disciplinary lines, the Handbook allows different disciplinary
perspectives to confront one another. In so doing, this foundational volume presents con-
temporary perspectives on longstanding debates whilst providing new contributions to the
field. Written with an interdisciplinary readership in mind, the chapters provide an overview
of existing work on a specific topic or issue, delineate current developments within the
respective discipline or field, and make suggestions for further research. As such, the book
will appeal to scholars across a range of disciplines, including history, sociology, anthropology,
criminology, law, philosophy, memory studies, psychology, political science, literary studies,
film studies, cultural studies, art history, and education.
Susanne C. Knittel is Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature at Utrecht University,
the Netherlands. Her research focuses on questions of memory, commemoration, and cul-
tural amnesia across cultures and media. She is the author of The Historical Uncanny: Disabil-
ity, Ethnicity, and the Politics of Holocaust Memory and editor in chief of The Journal of
Perpetrator Research.
Zachary J. Goldberg is Research Fellow in ethics and moral philosophy at Ludwig-
Maximilians-Universität München. His most recent publications focus on the metaethics and
normativity of evil action and theories of individual and collective moral responsibility. He is
guest editor of Midwest Studies in Philosophy Vol. 36: The Concept of Evil and editor of Reflec-
tions on Ethics and Responsibility: Essays in Honor of Peter A. French (Springer 2017).
“This pioneering handbook does far more than most: it constitutes an entirely new
object of inquiry: perpetrator studies. This Routledge handbook will long serve to
define and set the agenda for this emerging field.”
– A. Dirk Moses, senior editor, Journal of Genocide Research
“The Routledge International Handbook of Perpetrator Studies is a major accomplishment.
The editors have assembled a comprehensive and cutting-edge volume on perpetra-
tion in all of its facets, bringing together prominent scholars from an impressively
widerangeofperspectives.Sophisticated,nuanced,andsobering,thiswillremainthe
definitivereferenceworkforalongtimetocome.”
–ErnestoVerdeja,KrocInstituteforInternationalPeaceStudies,
UniversityofNotreDame,France
“‘Never again’ has not worked. We are really bad at preventing the invention and
actions of perpetrators of mass violence. Therefore, the present handbook is an
absolutely essential resource for all teachers, researchers, and students committed
to the urgent task of peace education and de-radicalization. The Handbook is aca-
demia at its best!”
– Wulf Kansteiner, Aarhus University, Denmark
“This is a unique and pioneering collection. The impressive set of analyses across
multiple disciplines opens up and gives shape to a new field of study. For anyone
interested in genocide, the Holocaust, or mass violence, whether from
a philosophical, anthropological, historical, sociological, or cultural perspective,
this Handbook will be indispensable.”
– Simona Forti, author of New Demons: Rethinking Power and Evil Today
“An essential resource for scholars and students, this Handbook covers the most
pressing issues concerning the perpetration of mass violence. Cutting across discip-
lines, fields, and histories, it surveys key concepts and debates about theory and
methodology and offers valuable pedagogical perspectives. Knittel and Goldberg
have done a great service to the new field of Perpetrator Studies in putting
together this volume.”
– Michael Rothberg, author of The Implicated Subject:
Beyond Victims and Perpetrators
The Routledge
International Handbook
of Perpetrator Studies
Edited by
Susanne C. Knittel and Zachary J. Goldberg
Firstpublished2020
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Contents
ListofContributors ix
Foreword:CriticalPerpetratorStudies xvi
AlexanderHinton
Introduction 1
SusanneC.KnittelandZacharyJ.Goldberg
PART1
CoreConceptsandKeyDebates 5
1.1 DefinitionsandTerminology 5
1 FromPerpetratorstoPerpetration:Definitions,Typologies,andProcesses 7
UğurÜmitÜngörandKjellAnderson
1.2 GroupDynamicsandMoralPsychology 23
2 TheMakingandUn-makingofPerpetrators:PatternsofInvolvementin
NaziPersecution 25
MaryFulbrook
3 OrdinaryOrganizations:ASystemsTheoryApproachtoPerpetrator
Studies 37
StefanKühl
4 StanleyMilgram’sObedienceExperiments 46
StephenGibson
5 TheAuthoritarianPersonality:ThenandNow 61
ChristinaGerhardt
v
Contents
6 What’sMoralCharacterGottoDowithIt?:Perpetratorsandthe
NatureofMoralEvil 74
ZacharyJ.Goldberg
7 TheMakingofaTorturer 84
JessicaWolfendale
8 LinkingPerpetratorCharacteristicstoJihadistModusOperandi:An
ExploratoryStudy 95
TeunvanDongen
1.3 PerpetratorsandtheLaw 107
9 NaziPerpetratorsandtheLaw:PostwarTrials,CourtroomTestimony,and
DebatesabouttheMotivesofNaziWarCriminals 109
HilaryEarl
10 WhenPerpetratorsBecomeDefendantsandthenConvicts 120
MarkA.Drumbl
11 UnsettlingAccounts:Perpetrators’ConfessionsintheAftermathofState
ViolenceandArmedConflict 130
LeighA.Payne
12 TheCoerciveEffectsofInternationalJustice:HowPerpetrators
RespondtoThreatsofProsecution 142
DavidMendeloff
PART2
Intersections 153
2.1 Perpetrators—NewTheoreticalApproaches 153
13 GenderingthePerpetrator:GenderingPerpetratorStudies 155
ClareBielby
14 PosthumanismandPerpetrators 169
JonathanLukeAustin
15 NotesontheSubaltern:Or,HowPostcolonialCritique
MeetsthePerpetrator 181
rashnélimki
vi
Contents
16 Perpetrators,Animals,andAnimality 192
KáriDriscoll
17 UnderstandingPerpetrators’UseofMusic 206
M.J.Grant
18 InformationTechnologiesandConstructionsofPerpetratorIdentities 217
AdamHenschke
19 ClimateChangePerpetrators:Ecocriticism,ImplicatedSubjects,and
AnthropoceneFiction 228
RickCrownshaw
2.2 Aftermaths,Responsibility,Trauma,andMemory 241
20 MoralResponsibilityandEvil 243
PaulFormosa
21 RestorativeJusticeandtheChallengeofPerpetratorAccountability 254
MargaretUrbanWalker
22 TheContoursandControversiesofPerpetratorTrauma 265
SairaMohamed
23 TheIntergenerationalEffectsofMassTraumainSculpting
NewPerpetrators 276
LaneBenjaminandMelikeM.Fourie
24 OnePerpetratorataTime:TheContributionofPublicHealth
SciencetoGenocidePrevention 287
RevaN.Adler
2.3 PerpetratorsandRepresentation 299
25 PerpetratorsandPerpetrationinLiterature 301
StephanieBird
26 WhoseEvilIsThis?PerpetratorsintheTheater 311
RobertSkloot
27 RepresentingInfamousOthers:PerpetratorImageryinVisualArt 321
DianaI.Popescu
vii
Contents
28 CulturalCodes:HolocaustResonancesinRepresentationsof
GenocidePerpetrators 332
RebeccaJinks
29 PlayingPerpetrators:InterrogatingEvilinVideogamesabout
ViolentConflicts 343
HolgerPötzschandEmilLundedalHammar
2.4 TeachingaboutPerpetrators 357
30 PlayingDevil’sAdvocate:ClassroomEncounterswithHolocaust
Perpetrators 359
AlasdairRichardson
31 TeachingthePerpetrator’sPerspectiveinHolocaustLiterature 364
ErinMcGlothlin
32 Teachingfor/aboutEmpathyinPeaceEducation 369
MichalinosZembylas
33 BeyondThinkingLikeaLawyer:ProvidingaSpacefor
PerpetratorStudieswithintheLegalClassroom 374
BrianneMcGonigleLeyh
34 TheEthicsofDiscomfort:CriticalPerpetratorStudiesand/as
EducationafterAuschwitz 379
SusanneC.Knittel
Index 385
viii
Contributors
Reva N. Adler is a retired Professor of Medicine at the Universities of Toronto and British
Columbia. Since 2004, she has been the principal investigator on the violence prevention
study Addressing the Root Causes of Genocide (ARC-G) in Rwanda and Sudan, funded by the
Fulbright ScholarshipBoard and the US Institute of Peace. Dr. Adler has worked with numer-
ous global organizations including the UN Special Rapporteur on Genocide Prevention, the
Stockholm International Forum, The Global Futures Forum, the US National Intelligence
Council, the Tenth and Fifteenth Rwandan Genocide Commemorations, and committees of
the British Parliament.
Kjell Anderson is Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Manitoba and the director of
the Master of Human Rights program. His scholarly publications focus on the causes and con-
sequences of mass atrocities and span law, political science, history, sociology, and criminology.
His book Perpetrating Genocide: A Criminological Account (Routledge 2018) is a comprehensive
study of genocide perpetrators, based on qualitative interviews in Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda,
Bosnia, Bangladesh, and Cambodia. His next book, on former LRA commander Dominic
Ongwen, is under contract with Rutgers University Press.
Jonathan Luke Austin is Lead Researcher at the Violence Prevention (VIPRE) Initiative of
the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. His work has
been published and/or is forthcoming at European Journal of International Relations, International
Political Sociology, Review of International Studies, Security Dialogue, Cambridge University Press,
and beyond.
Lane Benjamin is a clinical psychologist and a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of
Historical Trauma and Transformation at Stellenbosch University. As founder and former
director of an NGO, CASE (Community Action towards a Safer Environment) in Hanover
Park, South Africa, she has worked with victims and perpetrators of violence. In 2006, Lane
was awarded an Ashoka fellowship for her psychological work in marginalized communities.
She facilitates trauma-informed processes of healing through her consultancy, Restore
Reconnect Rebuild (R-Cubed), which works alongside diverse individuals and communities
to address violence and trauma within a context of extreme poverty and inequality.
Clare Bielby is Senior Lecturer in Women’s Studies at the University of York, UK. Her
research focuses on gender, violence, and representation, particularly in the context of the
Federal Republic of Germany. She is the author of Violent Women in Print: Representations in
the West German Print Media of the 1960s and 1970s (Camden House 2012) and co-editor
ix