Genocide - Contemporary philosophical and sociological perspectives

Over the last two decades, the phenomenon of genocide has been the object of increasing philosophical and sociological re­search. Regret­tably, the results of this trend on either side re­mained all too often within the con­finements of their respective departments and did spark just sporadic mu­tual reception. How­ever, philosophy and sociology clearly could com­plement each other to further develop and explore the concept of genocide the­oretically. Similar arguments and perspectives are covered in so­cial philosophy, political philosophy, ontology, conflict theory, political sociology, and gender theory. Common questions are: What constitutes a group? Why and how do groups resort to geno­cide? How does genocide differ from other forms of political viol­ence and other “-cides”? What is the harm in destroying a group by means of genocidal acts? How can a gender perspective bring forth the field of genocide studies? What is the connection between historical reflections on genocide and philosophical/soci­ological insights of it? The workshop addresses these questions above from a contem­porary perspective while also discussing the limits of theorizing about geno­cide in philosophy and sociology.