SOC310H1

Sociology of Atrocities

This course focuses on the sociology of atrocities. We focus on the range of social actors and processes involved when atrocities occur, how we identify, name, and respond to atrocities (such as genocide or crimes against humanity), the behavior of bystanders and intervenors, cultural trauma and the effects of atrocities, and processes of commemoration. We investigate the collective and social dynamics to try and explain the role of individuals, groups, and institutional actors in committing atrocities, including the role of group identities, bureaucracies, collective decision-making, shared repertoires, legacies of hate, and peer networks. We study the role of other actors – in particular legal institutions, but also humanitarian bodies, journalists, and others – in identifying, naming and sometimes responding to these atrocities, along with sociological evidence about how they do so and the efficacy of any such response.