Risky Times and Spaces: Settler Colonialism and Multiplying Genocide Prevention through a Virtual Indian Residential School

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 b...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Andrew Woolford, Adam Muller, Struan Sinclair
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: International Association of Genocide Scholars 2019-12-01
Series:Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal
Description
Summary: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.
ISSN:1911-0359
1911-9933