Never Again! Genocide and the International Community

The term "genocide" refers to the worst of crimes. Yet, although it involves complex social processes with enormous impacts on individuals and societies, it has been rather neglected by social scientists. This is due in part to the fact that the international legal definition of "genocide" is unclear and unsatisfactory, and also in part to the methodological problems of comparing large-scale events. The article proposes a methodological solution to these problems - involving the use of Weber's ideal type- and offers a critical review of the leading explanatory theories of genocide. It concludes that these theories offer considerable insight into the causation of genocide, although none is wholly convincing. A brief analysis of the crisis in Darfur is made to clarify some of the remaining problems in this field.