‘Toxification’ as a more indicative socio-psychological early warning sign for genocide than dehumanisation

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Copyright: Neilsen, Rhiannon
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Abstract
In the genocide-specific literature, dehumanisation is largely considered to be a reliable socio-psychological early warning sign for mass systematic killing. Yet, within the broader dehumanisation literature, dehumanisation is found to exist in a variety of instances that do not lead to violence or even aggression. This suggests that although dehumanisation is an important part of the genocidal process, a more indicative socio- psychological early warning sign for genocide is needed. Some genocide scholars have acknowledged this; however, little movement has been made to conceptualise and operationalise such an early warning indicator. The purpose of this thesis is to introduce the concept of ‘toxification’ as a more precise socio-psychological early warning sign for genocide than dehumanisation. Toxification is the portrayal of the victim group as not simply without human status, but as fundamentally lethal to one’s self or one’s society. While dehumanisation signals that killing the victim group may be perceived as permissible, toxification flags that extermination is portrayed as permissible and necessary. Following a literature review of genocide early warning signs and dehumanisation, I introduce the conceptual framework of toxification and its two manifestations – ‘toxic to the ideal’ and ‘toxic to the self’. I then look at three twentieth century genocides to illustrate how toxification can operate in practice and highlight important aspects of the concept. Lastly, I refine the framework of toxification as an early warning sign for genocide in light of the illustrative examples.
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Author(s)
Neilsen, Rhiannon
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Erskine, Toni
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Publication Year
2015
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Thesis
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Masters Thesis
UNSW Faculty
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