Cultural genocide and indigenous peoples: a sociological approach

Abstract

This contribution argues that the dominant understanding of genocide as mass killing is sociologically inadequate and at odds with the ideas of the author of the concept, Raphael Lemkin. To date sociological approaches to genocide have failed to appreciate the importance of culture and social death to the concept of genocide. There is insufficient serious discussion of culturally destructive processes, which do not involve direct physical killing or violence, through the analytical lens of genocide. This is especially true when it comes to the experiences of indigenous peoples in the world today. When they invoke the term genocide to describe their present day experiences it is often derided. In the second half of this contribution, however, I argue that indigenous peoples' use of the concept is often more accurate and precise than that espoused by many academics and call for more research into seemingly benign processes of indigenous ‘cultural diffusion’ but through the analytical lens of genocide.