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Elitocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its impact on the contemporary understanding of the crime of genocide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Dennis Gratz
Dennis Gratz*
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York, USA
*
*Email: gratzdennis@yahoo.com
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Abstract

In my paper I will present and discuss the theoretical concept of elitocide (a systematic elimination of leading figures of a society or a group) and its impact on the crime of genocide on the example of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992-1995. A systematization and scientific classification of elitocide as a sociological phenomenon bears great importance to the field of study on genocide, mass murder and human rights abuses. The scientific elaboration of new or hitherto neglected occurrences of organized violence has a significant impact on the understanding of the phenomenon of systematic war crimes and mass atrocities in modern war conflicts. In order to better understand how genocide or potentially genocidal mass murders emerge and how they can be prevented, it is necessary to modify and redevelop their conventional theoretical framework. Since the premises of modern war have changed, the science is obliged to adapt its approach to this new reality. This paper is a contribution to making the causes and consequences of mass atrocities practically cognizable and theoretically comprehensive.

Keywords

elitocideBosniawar crimesgenocideethnic cleansing
Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 39 , Issue 3 , May 2011 , pp. 409 - 424
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

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