Now published for the first time in paperback, Ordinary People as Mass Murderers offers a series of essays that explore one of the most fundamental and widely-discussed questions confronted by humanity: how do 'ordinary' people come to participate in mass murder? Recent scholarship has presented a complex and heterogeneous picture of ordinary perpetrators and shows that no age group, gender, or social, ethnic, religious or educational cohort is exempt from feeding the ranks of mass murderers. This book brings together a mix of established and younger experts to provide a unique and up-to-date overview of the current state of research, much of it previously unpublished in English. Nine contributions and an introduction combine to present complex findings in an accessible format, approaching the topic from a variety of perspectives (history, gender, sociology, psychology, law, comparative genocide) and addressing a number of hitherto unresolved questions. Together they show that our knowledge has moved on considerably since Christopher Browning's path-breaking Ordinary Men (1992) and they add significant new impetus to contemporary efforts at understanding different forms of genocide.
'Ordinary People as Mass Murderers is an extraordinarily felicitous book which
ought to be regarded as an important enrichment to the academic and even to
the political discussion. It offers complex, detailed and sophisticated analyses
in every single one of its difficult subjects, and at the same time it is inspiring
and well readable. The editors doubtlessly succeeded in offering a supremely
objective and factual contribution on this urgent, extremely challenging and
delicate theme.'
- Wolfgang Benz, Center for Research on Anti-Semitism, Technical University of Berlin, Germany
Taterforschung (perpetrator research) is dominated by German scholars, and much of the sophisticated, detailed and empirically rich work has yet to find its way into English. This short collection of essays is thus very welcome as a contribution to the English-language scholarship on perpetrators...the book ranges widely, and the quality of the chapters is uniformly high, combining readabilty and up-to-date research. The book will be ideal for teaching at higher undergraduate or postgraduate levels...' - Dan Stone, Journal of Genocide Research
ought to be regarded as an important enrichment to the academic and even to
the political discussion. It offers complex, detailed and sophisticated analyses
in every single one of its difficult subjects, and at the same time it is inspiring
and well readable. The editors doubtlessly succeeded in offering a supremely
objective and factual contribution on this urgent, extremely challenging and
delicate theme.'
- Wolfgang Benz, Center for Research on Anti-Semitism, Technical University of Berlin, Germany
Taterforschung (perpetrator research) is dominated by German scholars, and much of the sophisticated, detailed and empirically rich work has yet to find its way into English. This short collection of essays is thus very welcome as a contribution to the English-language scholarship on perpetrators...the book ranges widely, and the quality of the chapters is uniformly high, combining readabilty and up-to-date research. The book will be ideal for teaching at higher undergraduate or postgraduate levels...' - Dan Stone, Journal of Genocide Research