Description
Book SynopsisWhat causes genocide? And why do some stand by, doing nothing, while others risk their lives to help the persecuted? This tile analyzes interviews with bystanders, Nazi supporters, and rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust to lay bare critical psychological forces operating during genocide.
Trade ReviewWinner of the 2013 Giovanni Sartori Best Book Award, Qualitative Methods Section of the American Political Science Association Honorable Mention for the 2013 Robert L. Jervis and Paul Schroeder Best Book Award, International History and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association "Monroe challenges us to consider the role of identity in decision-making and to ask why some people are able to resist pressures to dehumanize others. Her work promises to help us better understand whether the roots of pro-social behavior can be expanded. Such contributions are important in any era in which terror and genocide exist."--Kristina E. Thalhammer, Perspectives on Politics "Ethics in an Age of Terror and Genocide is the culmination of Kristen Monroe's twenty years of work on altruism and moral choice. The book is magisterial in scope. Its goals are ambitious, its methods innovative, and its results provocative."--Lee Ann Fujii, Perspectives on Politics "Monroe leverages her keen insights to help us better understand human nature and then instructs us on how it is displayed in the various actions of others... Ethics in an Age of Terror and Genocide makes a scholarly contribution with a great deal of thought-provoking material that should cause readers to reflect on and better understand the forces that operate to promote good or evil in the world."--Thomas J. Williams, PsycCRITIQUES "Interesting and ambitious, this book is recommended for use in graduate courses. Some of the case studies may also be used in undergraduate teaching. It deserves wide discussion among scholars interested in ethics. At Florida State, I convene a reading group of graduate students and faculty interested in the intersections of religion, ethics, and philosophy. I plan to assign this study when we meet next fall."--John Kelsay, Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments xi Part 1. The Puzzle 1 Chapter 1. Introduction 3 Chapter 2. The Holocaust and Genocide 9 Part 2. A Study in Contrasts 32 Chapter 3. Tony: Rescuer 35 Chapter 4. Beatrix: Bystander 92 Chapter 5. Kurt: Soldier for the Nazis 114 Chapter 6. Fritz: Nazi Propagandist 138 Chapter 7. Florentine: Unrepentant Political Nazi 160 Part 3. Cracking the Code 187 Chapter 8. The Political Psychology of Genocide 189 Chapter 9. A Theory of Moral Choice 248 Conclusion The Psychology of Difference 301 Methodological Afterword 321 Appendix A. What Is Narrative and How Reliable a Tool Is It? 323 Appendix B. Glossary of Terms and Central Concepts 347 Notes 353 References 405 Index 433
