The Roots of Evil: The Origins of Genocide and Other Group Violence

by Ervin Staub

Book Overview

How can human beings kill or brutalize multitudes of other human beings? Focusing particularly on genocide, but also on other forms of mass killing, torture, and war, Ervin Staub explores the psychological, cultural, and societal roots of group aggression. He sketches a conceptual framework for the many influences on one group's desire to harm another: cultural and social patterns predisposing to violence, historical circumstances resulting in persistent...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521422140
• ISBN13: 9780521422147
• Release Date: July 1992
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 354 Pages
• Weight: 1.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Compelling analysis into the causes of mass violence and hope for the future

The Roots of Evil is an important book, both in its application of a comprehensive theoretical lens to the problem of mass violence and in its practical usefulness for efforts to prevent genocide from happening again. Staub explains how difficult conditions combine with social/political events to enable inter-group violence using detailed historical examples. His analysis shines light on the darkest actions of human beings, making sense of how neighbors can turn against each other. The book also offers hope that mass violence can be prevented, especially through efforts to humanize the "other" and speak out during the early events that can lead to genocide. In a world in which dehumanization remains all too common, this book will remain critical reading for years to come. It has been an inspiration for me, and for many others working in diverse fields related to peacebuilding. I recommend it highly.

An important book

This book, by one of today's most eminent genocide scholars, presents a simple to grasp analysis of the main human drives causing mass violence and genocide. Its ability to combine these drives into an easily understandable system makes it extremely useful for people that need to deal with this subject on the ground in combating ethnic violence. Professor Staub's book has inspired communication campaigns against the hatred fanning the genocide and mass killings in Rwanda, the DRC and Burundi. There, survivors of one of the last centuries' worst outbreaks of mass murder, find comfort in the way his analysis sheds light on how seemingly incomprehensible acts could be committed by the most seemingly normal people. around them.

Psychology and Political Violence

This book should be read by every political scientist interested in the role of mass violence in politics. It explores how politically salient identities can become the psychological basis for violence.