Omar Shahabudin Mcdoom
Biographic Data
| ID | 269635 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Omar Shahabudin Mcdoom |
| GIVEN NAMES | Omar Shahabudin |
| FAMILY NAME | Mcdoom |
| SIGNATURE | MCDOOM O S |
| AFFILIATIONS | London School of Economics and Political Science |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5660-1903 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 105 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Expert Commentary, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, and the Question of Genocide: Prosemitic Bias within a Scholarly Community
Few of the world's ongoing wars stir sentiments among such a wide-ranging and globally diverse set of constituenciesfar beyond those of just Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabsas the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 1 In this piece I examine the relationship of the conflict to one highly influential constituency: the scholarly community. In keeping with the aim of this journal's forum, I turn a lens on one particular section of this community: schola…
It’s Hamas’ Fault, You’re an Antisemite, and We Had No Choice: Techniques of Genocide Denial in Gaza
the Republic of South Africa filed an application against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging that Israeli military operations in Gaza in response to the Hamas-organized attack on 7 October 2023 violate the 1948 Genocide Convention.The global commentariat immediately fractured into two broad camps: those who regarded the filing as the apotheosis of efforts to hold Israel morally and legally accountable for what they sa…
Securocratic state-building: The rationales, rebuttals, and risks behind the extraordinary rise of Rwanda after the genocide
Both popular perspectives and theoretical characterizations of Rwanda’s remarkable trajectory following the genocide remain polarized more than a generation after the violence. The country has been hailed as a developmental state and denounced as an authoritarian ‘ethnocracy’. I introduce the concept of securocratic state-building in response to this polarization. The construct is intended to capture, first, the regime’s developmental but non-doc…
The Path to Genocide in Rwanda: Security, Opportunity, and Authority in an Ethnocratic State
The shocking characteristics of Rwanda's genocide in 1994 have etched themselves indelibly on the global conscience. The Path to Genocide in Rwanda combines extensive, original field data with some of the best existing evidence to evaluate the myriad theories behind the genocide and to offer a rigorous and comprehensive explanation of how and why it occurred, and why so many Rwandans participated in it. Drawing on interviews with over three hundr…
Radicalization as cause and consequence of violence in genocides and mass killings
Major theories of participation in genocides and mass killings offer seemingly opposing explanatory logics for how and why individuals come to commit violence. The long-standing consensus on “perpetrator ordinariness” contrasts with explanations that continue to highlight the prior, intensely held negative attitudes and beliefs about the victim group. I propose a theoretical reconciliation. Radicalization would be better theorized not only as an …
Contested Counting: Toward a Rigorous Estimate of the Death Toll in the Rwandan Genocide
As a world-historical event that has become indelibly etched into the conscience of humanity, the Rwandan genocide unequivocally merits scholarly attention to establishing its death toll.The historical record demands it.Preserving the memory of the victims, recognizing the enormity of the crime, and attributing full responsibility to the perpetrators are also compelling reasons to account for the lives taken.Justice also demands it.Yet in the twe…
Ethnic inequality, cultural distance, and social integration: Evidence from a native-settler conflict in the Philippines
A key debate in studies of native-migrant relations relates to the barriers to integration created by ethno-cultural differences and socio-economic disadvantage. How do changes in socio-economic inequality between ethnic groups affect interethnic ties in a divided society? I investigate this question by analysing the effect of ethnic inequality on the evolution of cross-ethnic marriages in a society fractured by conflict between natives and settl…
Inequality Between Whom? Patterns, Trends, and Implications of Horizontal Inequality in the Philippines
An overall decline in inequality within a country, when assessed using national-level measures, can evidently obscure important variation in inequality at the subnational level. However, social planners face a choice, whose importance we argue is often underestimated, in deciding the appropriate spatial and social boundaries along which inequality should be measured at the local level. We illustrate the consequential nature of this choice by exam…
Inequality, ethnicity, and status in a ranked society: Intermarriage in Mindanao, the Philippines
The Measurement of Ethnic and Religious Divisions: Spatial, Temporal, and Categorical Dimensions with Evidence from Mindanao, the Philippines
An ever-expanding body of empirical research suggests that ethno-religious divisions adversely impact a host of normatively desirable objectives linked to the quality of life in society, implicitly representing a strong challenge to multiculturalist theory and policies. The appropriate conceptualization and measurement of ethno-religious divisions has consequently become the subject of complex methodological debate. This article unpacks some of t…
Antisocial Capital: A Profile of Rwandan Genocide Perpetrators’ Social Networks
Although popularly perceived as a positive force important for objectives such as economic development and democracy, social capital may also be linked to less desirable outcomes. This article highlights a dark side to social capital by pointing to its role in a particularly pernicious phenomenon: genocidal violence. Drawing on a survey of residents from one community that experienced violence during Rwanda's 1994 genocide, I show that individual…
Predicting violence within genocide: A model of elite competition and ethnic segregation from Rwanda
Can we predict when and where violence will likely break out within cases of genocide? I present a theoretical model to help identify areas susceptible and resistant to violence during genocide. The model conceptualizes violence onset as a function of elite competition for control of the state from above and the ethnic segregation of society from below. First, in areas where extremist elite control is weak, violence is delayed or averted because …
Who killed in Rwanda's genocide? Micro-space, social influence and individual participation in intergroup violence
In episodes of intergroup violence, which group members participate and which do not? Although such violence is frequently framed as occurring between distinct ethnic, racial or sectarian groups, it is easily overlooked that it is usually only a subset of the group's members who in fact participate in the violence. In predicting participation, extant research has privileged an atomistic approach and identified individual attributes indicative of …
The Psychology of Threat in Intergroup Conflict: Emotions, Rationality, and Opportunity in the Rwandan Genocide
How do security threats mobilize social groups against each other? The strength of such threats lies in the power of group emotions, notably the primary emotion of fear. Fear works by activating psychological processes at the group level that polarize attitudes between different groups. An analysis of survey data, radio broadcasts, and interviews from Rwanda's civil war and genocide of 1990–94 reveals four psychosocial mechanisms at work in group…
The Dynamics of Violence in Central Africa
The Dynamics of Violence in Central Africa Rene Lemarchand Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009 327 pp, US$27.50 (pbk) or US$59.95 (hbk) This collection of essays on Africa's Gr
The Order of Genocide: Race, Power, and War in Rwanda by Scott Straus
Antisocial Capital: A Profile of Rwandan Genocide Perpetrators’ Social Networks
Although popularly perceived as a positive force important for objectives such as economic development and democracy, social capital may also be linked to less desirable outcomes. This article highlights a dark side to social capital by pointing to its role in a particularly pernicious phenomenon: genocidal violence. Drawing on a survey of residents from one community that experienced violence during Rwanda's 1994 genocide, I show that individual…
The Psychology of Threat in Intergroup Conflict: Emotions, Rationality, and Opportunity in the Rwandan Genocide
How do security threats mobilize social groups against each other? The strength of such threats lies in the power of group emotions, notably the primary emotion of fear. Fear works by activating psychological processes at the group level that polarize attitudes between different groups. An analysis of survey data, radio broadcasts, and interviews from Rwanda's civil war and genocide of 1990–94 reveals four psychosocial mechanisms at work in group…
Who killed in Rwanda's genocide? Micro-space, social influence and individual participation in intergroup violence
In episodes of intergroup violence, which group members participate and which do not? Although such violence is frequently framed as occurring between distinct ethnic, racial or sectarian groups, it is easily overlooked that it is usually only a subset of the group's members who in fact participate in the violence. In predicting participation, extant research has privileged an atomistic approach and identified individual attributes indicative of …
The Measurement of Ethnic and Religious Divisions: Spatial, Temporal, and Categorical Dimensions with Evidence from Mindanao, the Philippines
An ever-expanding body of empirical research suggests that ethno-religious divisions adversely impact a host of normatively desirable objectives linked to the quality of life in society, implicitly representing a strong challenge to multiculturalist theory and policies. The appropriate conceptualization and measurement of ethno-religious divisions has consequently become the subject of complex methodological debate. This article unpacks some of t…
Predicting violence within genocide: A model of elite competition and ethnic segregation from Rwanda
Can we predict when and where violence will likely break out within cases of genocide? I present a theoretical model to help identify areas susceptible and resistant to violence during genocide. The model conceptualizes violence onset as a function of elite competition for control of the state from above and the ethnic segregation of society from below. First, in areas where extremist elite control is weak, violence is delayed or averted because …
Inequality Between Whom? Patterns, Trends, and Implications of Horizontal Inequality in the Philippines
An overall decline in inequality within a country, when assessed using national-level measures, can evidently obscure important variation in inequality at the subnational level. However, social planners face a choice, whose importance we argue is often underestimated, in deciding the appropriate spatial and social boundaries along which inequality should be measured at the local level. We illustrate the consequential nature of this choice by exam…
Ethnic inequality, cultural distance, and social integration: Evidence from a native-settler conflict in the Philippines
A key debate in studies of native-migrant relations relates to the barriers to integration created by ethno-cultural differences and socio-economic disadvantage. How do changes in socio-economic inequality between ethnic groups affect interethnic ties in a divided society? I investigate this question by analysing the effect of ethnic inequality on the evolution of cross-ethnic marriages in a society fractured by conflict between natives and settl…
The Dynamics of Violence in Central Africa
The Dynamics of Violence in Central Africa Rene Lemarchand Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009 327 pp, US$27.50 (pbk) or US$59.95 (hbk) This collection of essays on Africa's Gr
Expert Commentary, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, and the Question of Genocide: Prosemitic Bias within a Scholarly Community
Few of the world's ongoing wars stir sentiments among such a wide-ranging and globally diverse set of constituenciesfar beyond those of just Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabsas the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 1 In this piece I examine the relationship of the conflict to one highly influential constituency: the scholarly community. In keeping with the aim of this journal's forum, I turn a lens on one particular section of this community: schola…
It’s Hamas’ Fault, You’re an Antisemite, and We Had No Choice: Techniques of Genocide Denial in Gaza
the Republic of South Africa filed an application against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging that Israeli military operations in Gaza in response to the Hamas-organized attack on 7 October 2023 violate the 1948 Genocide Convention.The global commentariat immediately fractured into two broad camps: those who regarded the filing as the apotheosis of efforts to hold Israel morally and legally accountable for what they sa…
Securocratic state-building: The rationales, rebuttals, and risks behind the extraordinary rise of Rwanda after the genocide
Both popular perspectives and theoretical characterizations of Rwanda’s remarkable trajectory following the genocide remain polarized more than a generation after the violence. The country has been hailed as a developmental state and denounced as an authoritarian ‘ethnocracy’. I introduce the concept of securocratic state-building in response to this polarization. The construct is intended to capture, first, the regime’s developmental but non-doc…
Radicalization as cause and consequence of violence in genocides and mass killings
Major theories of participation in genocides and mass killings offer seemingly opposing explanatory logics for how and why individuals come to commit violence. The long-standing consensus on “perpetrator ordinariness” contrasts with explanations that continue to highlight the prior, intensely held negative attitudes and beliefs about the victim group. I propose a theoretical reconciliation. Radicalization would be better theorized not only as an …
Contested Counting: Toward a Rigorous Estimate of the Death Toll in the Rwandan Genocide
As a world-historical event that has become indelibly etched into the conscience of humanity, the Rwandan genocide unequivocally merits scholarly attention to establishing its death toll.The historical record demands it.Preserving the memory of the victims, recognizing the enormity of the crime, and attributing full responsibility to the perpetrators are also compelling reasons to account for the lives taken.Justice also demands it.Yet in the twe…
The Order of Genocide: Race, Power, and War in Rwanda by Scott Straus
The Dynamics of Violence in Central Africa
The Dynamics of Violence in Central Africa Rene Lemarchand Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009 327 pp, US$27.50 (pbk) or US$59.95 (hbk) This collection of essays on Africa's Gr
The Psychology of Threat in Intergroup Conflict: Emotions, Rationality, and Opportunity in the Rwandan Genocide
How do security threats mobilize social groups against each other? The strength of such threats lies in the power of group emotions, notably the primary emotion of fear. Fear works by activating psychological processes at the group level that polarize attitudes between different groups. An analysis of survey data, radio broadcasts, and interviews from Rwanda's civil war and genocide of 1990–94 reveals four psychosocial mechanisms at work in group…
Who killed in Rwanda's genocide? Micro-space, social influence and individual participation in intergroup violence
In episodes of intergroup violence, which group members participate and which do not? Although such violence is frequently framed as occurring between distinct ethnic, racial or sectarian groups, it is easily overlooked that it is usually only a subset of the group's members who in fact participate in the violence. In predicting participation, extant research has privileged an atomistic approach and identified individual attributes indicative of …
Antisocial Capital: A Profile of Rwandan Genocide Perpetrators’ Social Networks
Although popularly perceived as a positive force important for objectives such as economic development and democracy, social capital may also be linked to less desirable outcomes. This article highlights a dark side to social capital by pointing to its role in a particularly pernicious phenomenon: genocidal violence. Drawing on a survey of residents from one community that experienced violence during Rwanda's 1994 genocide, I show that individual…
Predicting violence within genocide: A model of elite competition and ethnic segregation from Rwanda
Can we predict when and where violence will likely break out within cases of genocide? I present a theoretical model to help identify areas susceptible and resistant to violence during genocide. The model conceptualizes violence onset as a function of elite competition for control of the state from above and the ethnic segregation of society from below. First, in areas where extremist elite control is weak, violence is delayed or averted because …
The Measurement of Ethnic and Religious Divisions: Spatial, Temporal, and Categorical Dimensions with Evidence from Mindanao, the Philippines
An ever-expanding body of empirical research suggests that ethno-religious divisions adversely impact a host of normatively desirable objectives linked to the quality of life in society, implicitly representing a strong challenge to multiculturalist theory and policies. The appropriate conceptualization and measurement of ethno-religious divisions has consequently become the subject of complex methodological debate. This article unpacks some of t…
Inequality, ethnicity, and status in a ranked society: Intermarriage in Mindanao, the Philippines
Ethnic inequality, cultural distance, and social integration: Evidence from a native-settler conflict in the Philippines
A key debate in studies of native-migrant relations relates to the barriers to integration created by ethno-cultural differences and socio-economic disadvantage. How do changes in socio-economic inequality between ethnic groups affect interethnic ties in a divided society? I investigate this question by analysing the effect of ethnic inequality on the evolution of cross-ethnic marriages in a society fractured by conflict between natives and settl…
Inequality Between Whom? Patterns, Trends, and Implications of Horizontal Inequality in the Philippines
An overall decline in inequality within a country, when assessed using national-level measures, can evidently obscure important variation in inequality at the subnational level. However, social planners face a choice, whose importance we argue is often underestimated, in deciding the appropriate spatial and social boundaries along which inequality should be measured at the local level. We illustrate the consequential nature of this choice by exam…
The Path to Genocide in Rwanda: Security, Opportunity, and Authority in an Ethnocratic State
The shocking characteristics of Rwanda's genocide in 1994 have etched themselves indelibly on the global conscience. The Path to Genocide in Rwanda combines extensive, original field data with some of the best existing evidence to evaluate the myriad theories behind the genocide and to offer a rigorous and comprehensive explanation of how and why it occurred, and why so many Rwandans participated in it. Drawing on interviews with over three hundr…
Radicalization as cause and consequence of violence in genocides and mass killings
Major theories of participation in genocides and mass killings offer seemingly opposing explanatory logics for how and why individuals come to commit violence. The long-standing consensus on “perpetrator ordinariness” contrasts with explanations that continue to highlight the prior, intensely held negative attitudes and beliefs about the victim group. I propose a theoretical reconciliation. Radicalization would be better theorized not only as an …
Contested Counting: Toward a Rigorous Estimate of the Death Toll in the Rwandan Genocide
As a world-historical event that has become indelibly etched into the conscience of humanity, the Rwandan genocide unequivocally merits scholarly attention to establishing its death toll.The historical record demands it.Preserving the memory of the victims, recognizing the enormity of the crime, and attributing full responsibility to the perpetrators are also compelling reasons to account for the lives taken.Justice also demands it.Yet in the twe…
Securocratic state-building: The rationales, rebuttals, and risks behind the extraordinary rise of Rwanda after the genocide
Both popular perspectives and theoretical characterizations of Rwanda’s remarkable trajectory following the genocide remain polarized more than a generation after the violence. The country has been hailed as a developmental state and denounced as an authoritarian ‘ethnocracy’. I introduce the concept of securocratic state-building in response to this polarization. The construct is intended to capture, first, the regime’s developmental but non-doc…
It’s Hamas’ Fault, You’re an Antisemite, and We Had No Choice: Techniques of Genocide Denial in Gaza
the Republic of South Africa filed an application against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging that Israeli military operations in Gaza in response to the Hamas-organized attack on 7 October 2023 violate the 1948 Genocide Convention.The global commentariat immediately fractured into two broad camps: those who regarded the filing as the apotheosis of efforts to hold Israel morally and legally accountable for what they sa…
Expert Commentary, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, and the Question of Genocide: Prosemitic Bias within a Scholarly Community
Few of the world's ongoing wars stir sentiments among such a wide-ranging and globally diverse set of constituenciesfar beyond those of just Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabsas the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 1 In this piece I examine the relationship of the conflict to one highly influential constituency: the scholarly community. In keeping with the aim of this journal's forum, I turn a lens on one particular section of this community: schola…
Political science (14 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Genocide (10 works) · Criminology (9 works) · Law (9 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (8 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Economics (6 works) · Ethnic group (6 works) · Politics (6 works)