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Abstract

In this article, we examine how the logic of genocide prevention aligns with a settler colonial logic of elimination. We examine how the exclusion of cultural techniques of destruction from consideration contributes to the logic of elimination, and we suggest this is, in part, a structural problem built into the logic of genocide prevention. Along these lines, we interrogate linear and molar approaches to genocide prevention and propose, in addition to existing macro-level strategies, a molecular, everyday ethos of genocide prevention that is attuned to genocidal intimacies and seeks to foster anti-genocide habits and practices. In so doing, we argue that such an approach provides more hope for prevention in a settler colonial context. We illustrate this argument with reference to the Embodying Empathy virtual reality Indian Residential School, a Survivor-created storyworld that immerses visitors in the everyday lives of individuals undergoing acts of cultural destruction.

Acknowledgements

The Research presented in this paper was undertaken with approval from the University of Manitoba Psychology/Sociology Research Ethics Board. Funding for our project was provided by a Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada Partnership Development Grant. We would like to acknowledge Theodore Fontaine, Caroline Perreault, Mary Courchene, David Rundle Sr., Daniel Highway, Purvis Fontaine, and William Morriseau, whose expertise made this research possible. We also thank Wanda Hounslow, Prairie Skye Young-Brown, Toni Kipling, and Allysa Bird for their research assistance. Further thanks to participants in the Critical Approaches to Genocide and Atrocity Prevention Workshop for their helpful feedback and stimulating discussion.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5038/1911-9933.13.3.1674

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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