
Taking Lives
Genocide and State Power
Irving Louis Horowitz(Author)
Transaction Publishers
5th Edition
Published on 31. August 2001
Book
Hardback
477 pages
978-0-7658-0094-7 (ISBN)
Description
Taking Lives is a pivotal effort to reconstruct the social and political contexts of twentieth century, state-inspired mass murder. Irving Louis Horowitz re-examines genocide from a new perspective-viewing this issue as the defining element in the political sociology of our time. The fifth edition includes approximately 30 percent new materials with five new chapters. The work is divided into five parts: "Present as History Past as Prologue," "Future as Memory," "Toward A General Theory of State-Sponsored Crime," "Studying Genocide." The new edition concludes with chapters reviewing the natural history of genocide studies from 1945 to the present, along with a candid self-appraisal of the author's work in this field over four decades.
Taking Lives asserts that genocide is not a sporadic or random event, nor is it necessarily linked to economic development or social progress. Genocide is a special sort of mass destruction conducted with the approval of the state apparatus. Life and death issues are uniquely fundamental, since they alone serve as a precondition for the examination of all other issues. Such concerns move us beyond abstract, formalist frameworks into new ways of viewing the social study of the human condition. Nearly all reviewers of earlier editions have recognized this. Taking Lives is a fundamental work for political scientists, sociologists, and all those concerned with the state's propensity toward evil.
Taking Lives asserts that genocide is not a sporadic or random event, nor is it necessarily linked to economic development or social progress. Genocide is a special sort of mass destruction conducted with the approval of the state apparatus. Life and death issues are uniquely fundamental, since they alone serve as a precondition for the examination of all other issues. Such concerns move us beyond abstract, formalist frameworks into new ways of viewing the social study of the human condition. Nearly all reviewers of earlier editions have recognized this. Taking Lives is a fundamental work for political scientists, sociologists, and all those concerned with the state's propensity toward evil.
More details
Edition
5th edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Somerset
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Inc
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 166 mm
Thickness: 36 mm
Weight
785 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7658-0094-7 (9780765800947)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
07/2017
5th Edition
Routledge
€67.49
Available for download

E-Book
07/2017
5th Edition
Routledge
€67.49
Available for download

Book
08/2001
5th Edition
Transaction Publishers
€75.30
Shipment within 10-20 days
Person
Irving Louis Horowitz is Hannah Arendt Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Political Science at Rutgers University of New Jersey. He is the author of a variety of books, including War and Peace in Contemporary Social and Philosophical Theory, Radicalism and the Revolt against Reason, and most recently, Behemoth: The Theory and History of Political Sociology.
Content
Present as History; Past as Prologue; Future as Memory; Toward a General Theory of State-Sponsored Crime; Studying Genocide.