[Marxism] Fwd: CFP: Raphael Lemkin: 'On Genocides'

[Christopher Carrico]

CALL FOR PAPER: A SPECIAL ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL OF GENOCIDE 
RESEARCH "RAPHAEL LEMKIN: 'ON GENOCIDES'. THE 'FATHER OF THE 
GENOCIDE CONVENTION' AS A HISTORIAN"
Dominik J. Schaller (University of Zürich) and Jürgen 
Zimmerer (Universidade de Coimbra) will edit a special issue 
of the Journal of Genocide Research, to be published in 
autumn 2005. 
"New conceptions require new terms. By 'genocide' we mean 
the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group." Rarely 
in history have paradigmatic changes in scholarship been 
brought about with such few words. Putting the 
quintessential crime of modernity in only one sentence, 
Raphael Lemkin, the Polish Jewish specialist in 
international law, not only summarized the horrors of the 
National Socialist crimes, which were still under way, when 
he wrote them, but also influenced international law. As the 
founding figure of the UN-Genocide- Convention Lemkin is 
widely-known and held in highest regard. Less known is his 
contribution to the historical scholarship on genocide. It 
is this part of his influence that the planned volume will 
address. 
In the emerging debate on colonialism and genocide, Lemkin 
is now often referred to as theorist of a genocide concept 
that ignores the European settlement of the various "New 
Worlds". Consequently, various authors try to infer his 
potential opinion on colonialism. In so doing, they ignore 
the fact that Lemkin himself wrote extensively on the 
subject in a series of - albeit unpublished – articles. The 
special volume of JGR, which we are about to publish will 
analyze this almost forgotten work. It will reveal Lemkin as 
a scholar of even greater scope than preciously envisioned. 
In several chapters, Lemkin's work on mass violence in the 
classical period, medieval times, African, American and 
Australian colonialism will be analyzed and presented. 
Comparing them to his better known works on the Armenians 
and the National Socialist mass crimes will foster a better 
understanding of his concept of genocide and be an important 
contribution to the history of genocide historiography. 
Papers might focus on:
* Mass Murder in Antiquity
* Mass Murder in the Middle Ages
* Genocide in the New World (America and Australia)
* Genocide in the 20th Century (Africa)
* Armenian Genocide
* Holocaust
Proposals (max 3 pages) for papers addressing these and 
related questions should be submitted together with a short 
curriculum vitae by March 1, 2004 to one of the guest 
editors: 
Dominik J. Schaller 
David Hess-Weg 10 
8038 Zürich 
Switzerland 
rickscafe at bluemail.ch 
Dr. Jürgen Zimmerer 
Rua Alves Torgo, 25,1° esq.
P-5000-679 
Portugal
Juergenzimmerer at freenet.de
The articles, which should be a maximum of 6500 words 
including documentation, will be due at December 1, 2004. 
Please share this information with interested colleagues!
Dr. Jürgen Zimmerer 
(CEIS XX; Univ. Coimbra)
Rua Alves Torgo, 25,1° esq.
P-5000-679 
Portugal
Juergenzimmerer at freenet.de