Genocide Studies: An Australian Perspective

The burgeoning field of genocide studies is faced with several concerns. Foremost is the challenge of finding a space for encompassing and embracing the Holocaust with some comfort. The Judeocide is an ally, not an enemy, and not on the margins. Our maturing discipline needs to find a sense of collegiality, consensus on terminology, and yardsticks with which to measure scales, dimensions, and degrees of the crime. Several other themes also need attention: wider perspectives on the prerequisites of genocide, starvation as a genocidal weapon, a clear separation between motive and intent, genocide by omission, the elusive concepts of "worthy" and "unworthy" victims, the vexed question of why nations and people want or do not want to intervene in the case of endangered peoples, the race factor in all genocides, the educative value of trials, and, a topic least addressed, the complicity of populations whose leaders are the perpetrators.