Description
Book SynopsisWhat is it about ethnicity that breaks countries apart and drives people to acts of savage violence against their lifelong neighbors? Stuart Kaufman finds the roots of ethnic violence in myths and symbols, the stories ethnic groups tell about who they are.
Trade ReviewModern Hatreds is an excellent and timely contribution to scholarship on ethnic war.... Kaufman manages to combine a thoroughly researched and detailed analysis of the case studies and the construction of a hypothesis that may explain, to some extent, the emergence of ethnic war.
* Journal of International Studies *
Convincing in arguing that ethnic violence is not the result of 'ancient hatreds,' and that contemporary politics and the struggle for power among individuals and elite groups largely determine who will engage in violence and who, ultimately, will get killed.
* New York Review of Books *
This detailed work on the history of hatred provides a thoughtful perspective of events and motivations that should fascinate any serious reader.
* Political Science Quarterly *
While providing excellent background of ethnic wars, Modern Hatreds is not simply a historical text. It offers a modern interpretation of the many recent individual conflicts, and helps knit together the broader themes that are relevant to them all.
* National Journal *
Table of Contents1. Stories about Ethnic War
2. The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War
3. Karabagh and the Fears of Minorities
4. Georgia and the Fears of Majorities
5. Elite Conspiracy in Moldova's Civil War
6. Government Jingoism and the Fall of Yugoslavia
7. The Power of Symbols
Notes
Index
