'A terrible war of defence' - examining the role of dehumanisation in genocidal mobilisation

Thesis

This thesis provides an account of the role played by discourses of dehumanisation in mobilising genocidal violence. While scholars of ethnic conflict, social psychology, and genocide have extensively studied dehumanisation, this has focused on it as a phenomenon that reduces moral restraints on violence. Other forms of dehumanisation, however, do something different, designating target populations as an existentially threatening, monstrous, or contaminating threat, and thus a valid target for ‘defensive’ violence. What literature has addressed this latter understanding has been limited by its lack of (political, historical, and societal) contextualisation of these discourses – where were they articulated? By whom? To what audiences? – as well as limited examination of their internal logics.

To address this, I engage in an extended archival examination of three main case studies (Germany, Rwanda, and Serbia), followed by several smaller cases to demonstrate the broader applicability of my model. By building an extensive corpus of examples of dehumanisation, locating them in their historical and social contexts, and tracing their spread and impact, I develop a clearer account of the role of dehumanisation in genocidal violence.

I find that this form of securitising, threat-designating dehumanisation was remarkably consistent across a wide range of cases, and played a significant role in shaping violence. Distinctive views of the enemy – portraying them as diseases and vermin, existentially threatening to the body politic but also easily destroyed or ‘cured’ – were repeated across all three cases, and linked with distinctive violent responses. Based on the correlation between the incidence of dehumanisation and the forms of genocidal violence, as well as relevant social psychology scholarship, I argue that it was effective in promoting campaigns of mass extermination. I conclude by considering how these findings might contribute to genocide early warning regimes, by providing an account of a common precursor to genocide.

Authors: Owen, L

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-n1da91pnz
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: securitisation; genocide; dehumanisation; discourse analysis
• Subjects: Politics and war; Genocide; Discourse analysis