The Origins of Violence
Religion, History and Genocide
1st Edition
Published on 20. August 2008
272 pages
978-1-84964-322-1 (ISBN)
Description
Genocide is commonly understood to be a terrible aberration in human behaviour, performed by evil, murderous regimes such as the Nazis and dictators like Suharto and Pinochet. John Docker argues that the roots of genocide go far deeper into human nature than most people realise.
Genocide features widely in the Bible, the literature of ancient Greece and Rome, and debates about the Enlightenment. These texts are studied in depth to trace the origins of violence through time and across civilisations. Developing the groundbreaking work of Raphael Lemkin, who invented the term 'genocide', Docker guides us from the dawn of agricultural society, through classical civilisation to the present, showing that violence between groups has been integral to all periods of history.
This revealing book will be of great interest to those wishing to understand the roots of genocide and why it persists in the modern age.
Genocide features widely in the Bible, the literature of ancient Greece and Rome, and debates about the Enlightenment. These texts are studied in depth to trace the origins of violence through time and across civilisations. Developing the groundbreaking work of Raphael Lemkin, who invented the term 'genocide', Docker guides us from the dawn of agricultural society, through classical civilisation to the present, showing that violence between groups has been integral to all periods of history.
This revealing book will be of great interest to those wishing to understand the roots of genocide and why it persists in the modern age.
Reviews / Votes
'From primatology to ancient Greece and Rome to the Bible, early-modern Europe and the Enlightenment, Docker's profound and original analyses provide a deeply unsettling narrative of the longevity of human practices of group violence' -- Dan Stone, Professor of Modern History, Royal Holloway University of London 'This is a most interesting and disturbing book. It combines its analysis with a firm commitment to the modern, humanist values of non-violence and internationalism' -- Sabby Sagall, former senior lecturer in Sociology at the University of East LondonMore details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
File size
1,01 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-84964-322-1 (9781849643221)
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
Book
08/2008
Pluto Press
€126.48
Article exhausted; check different version
Book
08/2008
Pluto Press
€37.20
Article exhausted; check different version
Person
John Docker is Honorary Professor in the School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry at the University of Sydney. He is the author of The Origins of Violence (Pluto, 2008), 1492: The Poetics of Diaspora (2001), Postmodernism and Popular Culture (1994) and (with Ann Curthoys) Is History Fiction? (2005).
Content
Dedication: this book is dedicated to Ned Curthoys
Preface, Acknowledgements, and Contents Page
Introduction
1. Genocide as Ancient Practice: Chimpanzees, Humans, Agricultural Society
2. Genocide, and Questioning of Genocide, in Classical Greece: Herodotus and Thucydides
3. Genocide, Trauma, and World Upside Down in Ancient Greek Tragedy: Aeschylus and Euripides
4. Utopia and Dystopia: Plato and Cicero's Republics
5. Victimology and Genocide: The Bible's Exodus, Virgil's Aeneid
6. Roman Settler Imperialism in Britain: Narrative and Counter Narrative in Tacitus' Agricola and Germania
7. The Honourable Coloniser
8. Was the Enlightenment the origin of the Holocaust?
Conclusion: Can there be an end to violence?
References
Index
Preface, Acknowledgements, and Contents Page
Introduction
1. Genocide as Ancient Practice: Chimpanzees, Humans, Agricultural Society
2. Genocide, and Questioning of Genocide, in Classical Greece: Herodotus and Thucydides
3. Genocide, Trauma, and World Upside Down in Ancient Greek Tragedy: Aeschylus and Euripides
4. Utopia and Dystopia: Plato and Cicero's Republics
5. Victimology and Genocide: The Bible's Exodus, Virgil's Aeneid
6. Roman Settler Imperialism in Britain: Narrative and Counter Narrative in Tacitus' Agricola and Germania
7. The Honourable Coloniser
8. Was the Enlightenment the origin of the Holocaust?
Conclusion: Can there be an end to violence?
References
Index
