Cultural genocide

Looting of Polish artwork at the Zachęta building by German forces during the Occupation of Poland, 1944

Cultural genocide or culturicide is a concept described by Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin in 1944, in the same book that coined the term genocide.[1] The destruction of culture was a central component in Lemkin's formulation of genocide.[1] Though the precise definition of cultural genocide remains contested, the United Nations makes it clear that genocide is "the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group ... it does not include political groups or so called 'cultural genocide'" and that "Cultural destruction does not suffice, nor does an intention to simply disperse a group" thus this is what "makes the crime of genocide so unique".[2] While the Armenian Genocide Museum defines culturicide as "acts and measures undertaken to destroy nations' or ethnic groups' culture through spiritual, national, and cultural destruction",[3] which appears to be essentially the same as ethnocide. Some ethnologists, such as Robert Jaulin, use the term ethnocide as a substitute for cultural genocide,[4] although this usage has been criticized as risking the confusion between ethnicity and culture.[5] Cultural genocide and ethnocide have in the past been utilized in distinct contexts.[6] Cultural genocide without ethnocide is conceivable when a distinct ethnic identity is kept, but distinct cultural elements are eliminated.[7]

Culturicide involves the eradication and destruction of cultural artifacts, such as books, artworks, and structures.[8] The issue is addressed in multiple international treaties, including the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute, which define war crimes associated with the destruction of culture. Cultural genocide may also involve forced assimilation, as well as the suppression of a language or cultural activities that do not conform to the destroyer's notion of what is appropriate.[8] Among many other potential reasons, cultural genocide may be committed for religious motives (e.g., iconoclasm which is based on aniconism); as part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing in an attempt to remove the evidence of a people from a specific locale or history; as part of an effort to implement a Year Zero, in which the past and its associated culture is deleted and history is "reset". The drafters of the 1948 Genocide Convention initially considered using the term, but later dropped it from inclusion.[9][10][11] The term "cultural genocide" has been considered in various draft United Nations declarations, but it is not used by the UN Genocide Convention.[4]

  1. ^ a b Bilsky, Leora; Klagsbrun, Rachel (23 July 2018). "The Return of Cultural Genocide?". European Journal of International Law. 29 (2): 373–396. doi:10.1093/ejil/chy025. ISSN 0938-5428. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  2. ^ United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect. "The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)" (PDF). United Nations. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Cultural genocide". The Armenian genocide Museum-institute. Archived from the original on 22 August 2024. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  4. ^ a b Jaulin, Robert (1970). La paix blanche: introduction à l'ethnocide [White Peace: An Introduction to Ethnocide] (in French). Éditions du Seuil.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference DelantyKumar2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Bloxham, Donald; Moses, A. Dirk (15 April 2010). The Oxford Handbook of Genocide Studies. Oxford University Press. pp. 2–. ISBN 978-0-19-161361-6. Archived from the original on 30 June 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  7. ^ Hall, Thomas D.; Fenelon, James V. (2004). "The futures of indigenous peoples: 9-11 and the trajectory of indigenous survival and resistance". Journal of World-systems Research: 153–197. doi:10.5195/jwsr.2004.307.
  8. ^ a b "Cultural Genocide, Stolen Lives: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Indian Residential Schools". Facing History and Ourselves. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference AbtahiWebb2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Davidson2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference AutoCK-2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).