A Century of Genocide: Utopias of Race and Nation by Eric D. s> Weitz (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 779 regard to questions of identity. ProfessorEberhardtdemonstrates that he is aware of these issues, but it could be argued that they are not examined in sufficientdepth. In termsof itsorganizationalstructure,the main body of theworkis divided into geopolitical sections, on a north-southcontinuum. So we begin with the Baltic states, and end with the Balkan countries. Each section contains an overview of the region, and the ethnographic composition of each country is then assessed. The initial assessment is of the situation at the turn of the twentieth century. The second examines the situationbetween the wars, and the third and final section looks at the post-war scenario. In all instances the text is complemented by a rich mixture of figures and tables. Unfortunately the concluding chapterswhich I had hoped would contain some substantive analysisof the natureand consequencesof themassivepopulationmovements, campaigns of ethnic cleansing and outright genocide that marred the region throughout almost the entire course of the twentieth centurydo not reallydo that. Instead, more than anything else they are summaries of earlier observationsand findingswith some additionalbriefcomment. Each region receives appropriatetreatment, and in general is dealt with in an even-handed manner. Neither nations as collective entities, nor followers of given ideologies are singled out eitherfor specialpraise, or are condemned for having perpetratedparticularexcesses. Of all the geopolitical areas under consideration, only with the section on the Balkans, and in particular the former Yugoslavstates did I feel uncomfortable. It simply is not sufficientto say that 'The immediate causes of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina were ethnic conflicts' (p. 395). In addition, the author seems to be unaware of the mass conversion of the Bogomils to Islam, and of the ambiguous relationship between Christianity and Islam in southern former Yugoslavia that until recently meant that in some areas individuals could effectively practice versionsof both faithswithout any apparentcontradiction.His understanding of the pressures faced by the Turkish minority in Bulgaria throughout the entireperiod of Communist ruleseems similarlyslight(pp. 4'5- I6). We should, however, close on a more positive note. This work constitutes an invaluable resource for political scientists, students of international relations, political geographers, ethnographers and those with a particular interest in the study of nationalism. Finally, the generally superb translation on the partofJan Owsinskideservesthe praisethat it is due. School ofSociology, PoliticsandLaw KARL CORDELL University ofPlymouth Weitz, Eric D. A Centugy of Genocide: Utopiasof Race andNation. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ and Oxford, 2003. vii + 360 pp. Notes. Bibliography.Index. ?I9.gs. THEtwentieth centuryis commonly regardedas a centuryof genocide. Yetas a field of comparative analysisit is still in its relative infancy. Pioneer studies notably by Leo Kuper, and Helen Fein in the I980s, in some respects, have not been notably superseded, though the weight of scholarly works on 780 SEER, 82, 3, 2004 genocide, as opposed specifically to the Holocaust, is now beginning to burgeon. In thisrespectEricWeitz'scontributionis a very significantone. His four primary case studiesjuxtapose Nazi Germany with Communist states, more specificallyStalinistRussia, Khmer Rouge Cambodia and the Serbia of Milosevic. And Weitz goes to considerablelengthsto show how these all were or became state-societies notably fixated on the creation of homogeneous Utopias, thusby implicationaccounting at least in considerablepart for their tendencies to mass purge population groups who did not fit their homogenizing criteria. Within this frame Weitz develops a very tight, cogent and unusuallyfluent analysisfounded on very well researched but judiciously selected secondary sources and with results which repeatedly highlight the parallels as well as provide a markedcounterpointbetween his examples. He furtheranchorsthis argumentby creatinga general methodology within which each case-studyis developed, resulting in each chapter in sections on 'Power and Utopia', 'Categorising the Population', 'Population Purge', including 'The Ultimate Purge' and finallythe 'Rituals'of the process. This last section is particularly instructive as it aims to demonstrate that while genocide might be on one level in Weitz's view the product of 'totalitarian', even specifically 'revolutionary' states, it also has strong demotic undercurrents. Genocide, implies Weitz, embraces, involves and enthuses ordinary people to become participants.In otherwords, to actuallysucceed genocide can never be only a top-down affair or some product of state ideology pure and simple; on the contrary its drive and extraordinary violence reflects the ambitions and aspirations, sometimes...