Jack Nusan Porter

Genocide and human rights : a global anthology

This edition of Genocide and Human Rights marks the 20th anniversary of publication. Originally published in 1982, Genocide and Human Rights was the first anthology of its kind in genocide studies. The field has grown exponentially in the past two decades but this book is as fresh and as relevant as ever, given the times we live in. The genocides in Rwanda, Cambodia, and the former Yugoslavia and their subsequent war crime tribunals all make this book germane to todays headlines.

The holocaust as a sociological construct

Perpetrators, Victims, Bystanders by RAUL HILBERG. Sew York:Harper Collins, Aaron Asher Books, 1992, 340 pp.

Religion, Violence, Memory, and Place

25 (Cloth)

The holocaust: anthologies and memoirs

35 Canada. Modernity and the Holocaust by ZYGMUNT BAUMAN. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992, 238 pp. S1S.9S (Paper). The Seventh Million: The Israelis and the Holocaust by TOM SEGEV, translated by Haim Watzman. New York: Hill & Wang, 1993, 593 pp.

The Sociology of American Jews : a critical anthology

27.50 (cloth). Professions of a Lucky Jew by BENNO WEISER VARON. New York: Cornwall Books, 1992, 431 pp. S24.50 (cloth).

Synagogue Life: A Study in Symbolic Interaction.

Genocide studies is one of the fastest growing fields in the world. The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), a worldwide organization of teachers, diplomats, students, activists, and journalists, doubled its membership from 200 to 400 in just one year. At its last conference in July 2007 in Sarajevo, Bosnia, there were over 400 presenters, half of them graduate students, who attended free of charge. The reason for this growth is twofold: the rise of student activism over Darfur, global warming, and other political issues plus the upsurge, sadly, of genocides or genocidal massacres all over the globe—Bosnia, Kosova, Rwanda, Darfur, Congo, Kenya, Kurds and “Marsh Arabs” in Iraq, and several other places. The use of the Internet has become an important tool in educating and mobilizing people. This important “handbook” comes out at a good time in history. The book was conceived at the 2000 meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR), where Shawn Landres organized a joint session of the “Religion, Holocaust, and Genocide Group” and the “Religion in Eastern Europe and Former USSR Group.” What I like about this book is its cross-disciplinary approach—scholars in religious studies, sociology, history, anthropology, and political science as well as in African, Caribbean, Jewish, and Native American studies, examine the religious memorialization of violent acts linked to those sites. The editors argue that memory is essential to religion, and conversely, that religion is inherent in memory. This is the first book, they claim, to discuss the intersection of all four aspects—memory, violence, religion, and place. This is quite a goal. Do they succeed? One thing I must say is that although I have been in the field of genocide studies for 40 years, I did not recognize most of the contributors to this book. This tells us two things: one negative—that scholars are discussing genocide and violence in many fields but are not talking to each other (I ask them to join the IAGS); and one positive: we have an entire generation of new scholars in this field, and that is wonderful news. Memory is an elusive concept. It comes and goes and comes back again. The editors ask three questions regarding conflict: (1) whether to remember at all; (2) if so, how to remember; and (3) what the resulting memorialization means. Taking the genocide I know best and to some degree have “experienced,” the Holocaust is an event some survivors do not wish to remember. It is too painful. They do not pass it on to future generations or at least in any meaningful or coherent way. The children have to learn it piecemeal, in disjointed or even psychologically neurotic ways. The second issue, how to remember? If you are religious, you will interpret the genocide in religious terms even if that might distort the event. If you are secular, you will view it as straight history. Which way is the “correct” one? The answer of course is subjective, depending on your religious and personal values. I personally don’t like the religious distortion, or in fact, any distortion of Holocaust memory. An offshoot of this is the problem of “genocide denial,” the most severe being Holocaust denial (see Lipstadt 2006) or denial of the Armenian genocide or the misuse of the term, for example, using the term “genocide” falsely or wrongly (see Porter 2006: 5–7 and Jones 2006: 351–357). This has become a serious problem today. Finally, what does memorialization mean, especially as time goes by and survivors die off? Is memory distorted? Do current events affect what we remember about past violence? Are there gender and sexual issues at stake (see Porter 2006: 113–146 and Jones 2004)? Plus, we haven’t even discussed the problem of how superpowers cannot stop genocide even when they publicly state that they want to (see Power 2002). I liked this book very much. I liked the map at the beginning with the sites around the world mentioned, and what an array of sites: Jerusalem, Los Angeles, Auschwitz, Wounded Knee, Baden, Arapkir, Nagorno Karabagh, Hiroshima, Kigali, Port-au-Prince, and Okla-

Letter to Contemporary Sociology

Holocaust Literature: A Handbook of Critical, Historical, and Literary Writings edited by SAUL S. FRIEDMAN. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993, Foreward by Dennis Klein, 677 pages (cloth). Burning Memory: Times of Testing and Reckoning edited by ALICE L. ECKARDT. Oxford and New York: Pergamon Press, 1993, 340 pages,

Product Review: The Israeli DiasporaThe Israeli Diaspora, by GoldSteven J.. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2002. 272 pp.

88 (cloth). Different Voices: Women and the Holocaust edited and with introduc tions by CAROL RITTNER and JOHN K. ROTH. New York: Paragon House, 1993, 435 pp.,

40.00 cloth. ISBN: 0-295-98280-2.

26.95 (cloth). Defiance: The Bielski Partisans: The Story of the Largest Armed Rescue of Jews by Jews During World War II by NECHAMA TEC. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, 276 pp.,

22.50 paper. ISBN: 0-295-98261-6.

27.50 (cloth). Prosecuting Nazi War Criminalsby ALAN S. ROSENBAUM. Boulder, Co: Westview Press, 1993, 144 pages,