Amoral Communities

Mila Dragojevic

Description

In Amoral Communities, Mila Dragojevic examines how conditions conducive to atrocities against civilians are created during wartime in some communities. She identifies the exclusion of moderates and the production of borders as the main processes. In these places, political and ethnic identities become linked and targeted violence against civilians becomes both tolerated and justified by the respective authorities as a necessary sacrifice for a greater political goal.Dragojevic augments the literature on genocide and civil wars by demonstrating how violence can be used as a political strategy, and how communities, as well as individuals, remember episodes of violence against civilians. The communities on which she focuses are Croatia in the 1990s and Uganda and Guatemala in the 1980s. In each case Dragojevic considers how people who have lived peacefully as neighbors for many years are suddenly transformed into enemies, yet intracommunal violence is not ubiquitous throughout the conflict zone; rather, it is specific to particular regions or villages within those zones. Reporting on the varying wartime experiences of individuals, she adds depth, emotion, and objectivity to the historical and socioeconomic conditions that shaped each conflict.Furthermore, as Amoral Communities describes, the exclusion of moderates and the production of borders limit individuals' freedom to express their views, work to prevent the possible defection of members of an in-group, and facilitate identification of individuals who are purportedly a threat. Even before mass killings begin, Dragojevic finds, these and similar changes will have transformed particular villages or regions into amoral communities, places where the definition of crime changes and violence is justified as a form of self-defense by perpetrators.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• War crime
• History of Europe

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 octobre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781501739835
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 7 Mo

Extrait

AMORAL COMMUNITIES

AMORAL COMMUNITIES Collective Crimes in Time of War

Milà DRàgOjEVić

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESSITHACA AND LONDON

Copyright © 2019 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu.

First published 2019 by Cornell University Press

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Names: Dragojevic, Mila, author. Title: Amoral communities : collective crimes in time of war / Mila Dragojevic. Description: Ithaca [New York] : Cornell University Press, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019010038 (print) | LCCN 2019011863 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501739835 (ebook pdf) | ISBN 9781501739842 (ebook epub/mobi) | ISBN 9781501739828 | ISBN 9781501739828? (hardcover ; alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: War and crime—Croatia—History—20th century. | Civilians in war—Violence against—Croatia. | Political violence—Croatia—History—20th century. | Ethnic conflict—Croatia—History—20th century. | Yugoslav War, 1991–1995—Croatia. | War and crime—Uganda—History—20th century. | Civilians in war—Violence against—Uganda. | Political violence—Uganda— History—20th century. | War and crime—Guatemala—History—20th century. | Civilians in war—Violence against—Guatemala. | Political violence—Guatemala—History—20th century. Classification: LCC HV6189 (ebook) | LCC HV6189 .D73 2019 (print) | DDC 364.1/38—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019010038

To my brother To the victims of violence

Contents

List of Illustrations Preface Abbreviations

Introduction: Civilians in Wars

1.  The Making of Amoral Communities 2.  Evidence of Amoral Communities 3.  The Exclusion of Moderates 4.  The Production of Borders 5.  Memories and Violence 6.  Violence against Civilians as a Political Strategy

Conclusion: Preventing Collective Crimes

Appendix: An Excerpt from the Field Notes by Helga Paškvan Notes References Index

ix xi xvii

1

22

33

50

77

92

117

142

147 155 179 193

Illustrations

Table 1. Subnational variation of violence in World War II and the 1990s and case selection 17

Figures 1. Map of subnational variation in Croatia xviii 2. Map of counties with mass violence against civilians in Croatia, 1991–1995 xix 3. Near the dividing line in Lipik and Pakrac, Western Slavonia 80–81 4. Memorial for victims of rocket attacks in Ivanovo Selo 102 5. Monument for victims of World War II and the violence in 1991 in Gornji Grahovljani 104 6. Monument for victims of Bleiburg,Križni put, and the Homeland War in Marino Selo 106

i

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