Archives par mot-clé : massacres

Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence (OEMV) – The project


The Project

«Writing history… aims at calming the dead who still haunt the present, and at offering them scriptural tombs.»

Michel de Certeau, The Writing of History, New York and Chichester, Columbia University Press, 1988.

A unique project

The Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence (OEMV) is a regularly updated electronic database focusing on massacres and genocides of the 20th century. Currently, there is no tool available that documents and classifies our knowledge by continent, country and historical period. The OEMV’s first objective is to fill this gap by offering reliable historical description and interdisciplinary analysis of both well-documented and less well-known 20th century massacres. Resources provided include chronological indexes, case studies, analytical contributions on socio-political violence in a given country, a glossary of the terms most often used in the field of genocide studies as well as theoretical papers written by the most representative authors in the field.

Such a unique database will not only be valuable to scholars, but also to the NGO community, international legal experts, policy makers and journalists. It is a unique online publication in the academic landscape, responding to high academic criteria while being available to the wider public. Our first aim is to undertake an unprecedented effort to bring together the highest quality scholarship in the field.

This project was initiated in 2004 by Sciences Po Paris (Center for International Research and Studies). It has taken us nearly four years to get the OEMV ready to be put on line. Considering the highly sensitive nature of this project and the relative novelty of this field of research, this maturation period has proved valuable. The gradual construction of this web site is the result of genuine teamwork on the part of computer specialists and researchers, who endeavored to coordinate technical, scientific and ethical criteria.

A team of international scholars

At the very core of the project is collective research that involves the most prestigious scholars in the field of mass violence from all over the world. It therefore creates opportunities to learn and exchange in a comparative perspective on topics as varied as the Ottoman Empire, the Holocaust, Africa of the Great Lakes, South-East Asia, etc. In other words, knowledge produced by our team of scholars is essential to understand the similarities and the specificities of extreme violence perpetrated in the 20th century.

The innovative aspect of this project is moreover confirmed by its fundamental opening to multidisciplinary. Phenomena of mass violence are so complex that they necessarily require a multidisciplinary approach: not only that of the historian, but also of the psychologist, the anthropologist, the political scientist, etc. The make-up of our steering committee and of our International Academic Advisory Board testify our will to multiply the angles of analyses in order to better understand the destructive conducts that seem so puzzling.

An online reference in genocide studies

The researchers involved with the OEMV mean to make it the international online publication of reference for the spreading of knowledge on mass violence, whether it is qualified as genocide, ethnic cleansing or massacres. As scholars our foremost responsibility is to build up knowledge and share it. Bearing in mind the vital role some intellectuals and academics have played in past mass violence, today’s scholars have a responsibility to initiate and build this demanding initiative. We will work vigilantly against any attempt to manipulate this site or exploit it for communitarian, political or ideological purposes.

In accordance with «open access» objectives, we hope to offer every type of audience free and simple access to these research findings. Building peace also requires an understanding of the legacy of violence, the dark side of peace. As it offers a universal public service, access to our website is free of charge.

A Peer-reviewed publication

We gave particular attention to the drafting of methodological recommendations that all potential contributors must comply with. In this sense, the OEMV is not based on the spontaneous participation of Internet users. The knowledge gathered here comes from the best specialists of a historical case or a theoretical issue, most of who are researchers and academics (and their PhD students). Furthermore, each paper is peer-reviewed before being published online.

 

Cliquez sur l’image pour accéder au site

Sources on Vietnam Laos Cambodia “Left-Wing Bloodbaths” – by Paul Bogdanor

Skulls from the Cambodian Killing Fields
© 2012 Steven G. Kellman

[ndlr] Sur son site personnel l’écrivain londonien Paul Bogdanor consacre une page aux sources en ligne sur les “Bains de sang de gauche”. Nous avons extrait de sa liste les sources concernant directement le Viêt Nam, le Laos et le Cambodge. Textes de chercheurs, de journalistes ou de simples témoins sont répertoriés aux côtés de rapports d’enquête et de documents d’archives. On y retrouve le débat sur les victimes de la réforme agraire de 1953-1956 en RDVN, des documents sur les techniques de répression des “contre-révolutionnaires” dans les trois pays, des témoignages sur les goulags vietnamiens et laotiens après 1975 et sur le génocide cambodgien perpétré par les Khmers rouges. Certains de ces textes seront évoqués en introduction de la séance 6 du séminaire. Les annotations sont celles de l’auteur.

 

Left-Wing Bloodbaths

Radical leftists would have us believe that they stand for democracy, progress, human rights and social justice. But when they seize power, they introduce slavery, terror, famine, concentration camps and mass murder. As the Marxists used to say, this is no accident.

 

Vietnam

– Pre-1975

  • The Massacre of Hue – In this communist massacre, thousands of men, women and children were mercilessly slaughtered.

– Post-1975

Laos

 

Cambodia

– Civil War

  • President Ford, News Conference on Cambodia [PDF] – President Ford warns of “an unbelievable horror story” if the communists capture Cambodia.

– Killing Fields

  • Bruce Sharp, Counting Hell – Studies demonstrating that the death toll was in the millions.