'All Four Seasons and I Will Die': A Typology of Displacement Atrocities
Date
2019-07-15
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Abstract
In this dissertation I answer the question: why is displacement used to commit genocide? To answer this question, a typology and theory of Displacement Atrocity (DA) crimes is offered. Perpetrators of DA crimes uniquely fuse forced displacement with systemic deprivations of vital daily needs in order to destroy populations in whole or in part. DA crimes are typically perpetrated in large political geographies which are transformed into spaces of annihilation. There are two subtypes of DA crimes. First, perpetrators of kettling DA crimes use area squared to displace populations into and confine them in these large areas to annihilate them. Second, perpetrators of escorting DA crimes use linear distance to forcibly march their targeted populations along and annihilate them. This potent indirect killing method has yet to be fully understood in relevant literatures. The inductive typology I present is based on comparative historical analysis of Germany’s Genocide of the Herero (Herero Genocide) in German South-West Africa (1904-1908) and the Ottoman Genocide of Christian Minorities (1914-1925) in the Ottoman Empire/Turkey. The DA crime theory is then tested against two counter-cases which occurred in the same political geographies: Germany’s Genocide of the Nama (Nama Genocide) (1905-1908) and the Hamidian Massacres (1894-1896). The potential future uses of the DA crime concept in the 21st-Century are offered in the conclusions section.
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Displacement Atrocity, Displacement, Forced Displacement, Atrocity, Genocide, Political Violence, Political Geography, Kettling Displacement Atrocity, Escorting Displacement Atrocity, Herero Genocide, Ottoman Genocide of Christian Minorities, Hereros, Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Nama Genocide, Hamidian Massacres, Namibia, Germany, Ottoman Empire, Turkey
Citation
Basso, A. R. (2019). All Four Seasons and I Will Die': A Typology of Displacement Atrocities (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.