Scott Straus
Biographic Data
| ID | 5701053 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Scott Straus |
| GIVEN NAMES | Scott |
| FAMILY NAME | Straus |
| SIGNATURE | STRAUS S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 32 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 392 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 30 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 11 |
The Problems of Genocide
Genocide and enslavement
Cambridge World History of Genocide
Cambridge World History of Genocide
Introduction
The Limits of a Genocide Lens
This reflection examines how to characterize histories of violence. The genocide in Rwanda has become, after years of labour, documentation, legal proceedings, testimony, and scholarship, a canonic
What drives violence against civilians in civil war? Evidence from Guatemala's conflict archives
Dominant theories of mass violence hold that strategic concerns in civil war drive the deliberate targeting of civilians. However, the causal mechanisms that link strategic objectives to large-scale violence against civilians remain underspecified, and as such the causal logics that underpin each remain blurred. In this article, we identify and explicate four plausible mechanisms that explain why armed groups would target, for strategic purposes,…
Perils of pluralism
Why do some multiparty elections lead to political violence while others do not? Despite extensive literatures on democratization, civil war, and violence against civilians in civil war, the topic of electoral violence has received less attention. We develop a set of theoretical propositions to explain this variation, testing them on an original dataset on African elections from 1990 to 2008. We find that elections in which an incumbent president…
Aspirations démocratiques et « démocraties autoritaires » en Afrique centrale
Making and Unmaking Nations
In Making and Unmaking Nations , Scott Straus seeks to explain why and how genocide takes place—and, perhaps more important, how it has been avoided in places where it may have seemed likely or even inevitable.
Making and Unmaking Nations
Challenges, debates, and reflections on the “post” in “post-conflict” Côte d'Ivoire
How do you rebuild states after war? How do you restore confidence in state institutions weakened by violent conflict? How do you repair deeply divided social relations after more than a decade of
The Road to Hell? Third‐Party Intervention to Prevent Atrocities
Preventing large‐scale atrocities has emerged as an important policy goal of the post–Cold War period. However, a debate exists about the effects of creating an international institution to prevent atrocities. Advocates of intervention argue that a credible threat to intervene should deter perpetrators and stop atrocities when deterrence fails. Critics argue that third‐party intervention, by strengthening weak minority groups and lowering the cos…
Political Science and Genocide
This article discusses the relationship between political science and genocide, focusing on three major themes. First, it discusses the evolution of genocide studies within the discipline and expands on this. Second, it identifies seminal contributions that have emerged from some four decades of political science studies of genocide: a methodological emphasis on the comparative method, including both quantitative and qualitative studies; a move t…
Destroy Them to Save Us
Based on an analytic review of recent scholarly advances in genocide studies, this article investigates the causes, concept, and logic of genocide while suggesting a set of theoretical propositions and avenues for future research. Two emerging theoretical streams of literature on causes—strategic and ideological—highlight different dimensions of genocide and should be thought of as compatible. The study of genocide should be embedded in a broader…
Remaking Rwanda
Obituary
Why Not Kill Them All? The Logic and Prevention of Mass Political Murder by Daniel Chirot and Clark McCauley
Second-Generation Comparative Research on Genocide
Comparative research on the determinants of genocide has surged in recent years, as reflected in the six books under review. The new research makes genocide studies more systematic and theoretical; integrates the topic into mainstream social science disciplines; points to three emerging explanatory paradigms; and yields some surprising cumulative findings. However, the works also reveal significant conceptual, empirical, and methodological proble…
"What Is the Relationship between Hate Radio and Violence? Rethinking Rwanda's "Radio Machete
The importance of hate radio pervades commentary on the Rwandan genocide, and Rwanda has become a paradigmatic case of media sparking extreme violence. However, there exists little social scientific analysis of radio's impact on the onset of genocide and the mobilization of genocide participants. Through an analysis of exposure, timing, and content as well as interviews with perpetrators, the article refutes the conventional wisdom that broadcast…
Dangerous Sanctuaries
Journal Article Dangerous Sanctuaries: Refugee Camps, Civil War, and the Dilemmas of Humanitarian Aid by Sarah Kenyon Lischer Get access Dangerous Sanctuaries: Refugee Camps, Civil War, and the Dilemmas of Humanitarian Aidby Sarah Kenyon Lischer. Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press, 2005. 204pp. $35.00. Scott Straus Scott Straus University of Wisconsin, Madison Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Political Sc…
The Order of Genocide
Challenging the prevailing wisdom, Straus provides substantial new evidence about local patterns of violence, using original research - including the most comprehensive surveys yet undertaken among convicted perpetrators - to assess competing theories about the causes and dynamics of the genocide. Current interpretations stress three main causes for the genocide: ethnic identity, ideology, and mass-media indoctrination (in particular the influenc…
Conspiracy to Murder
Journal Article Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwanda Genocide and the International Community Get access Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwanda Genocide and the International Community by Linda Melvern. New York, Verso, 2004. 256 pp. $25.00. Scott Straus Scott Straus University of Wisconsin—Madison Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Political Science Quarterly, Volume 120, Issue 2, Summer 2005, Pages 348–350, https://d…
Darfur and the Genocide Debate
IN SUDAN'S western Darfur region, a massive campaign of ethnic violence has claimed the lives of more than 70,000 civilians and uprooted an estimated 1.8 million more since February 2003. The roots of the violence are complex and parts of the picture remain unclear. But several key facts are now well known. The primary perpetrators of the killings and expulsions are government-backed Arab militias. The main civilian victims are black Africans fro…
How many perpetrators were there in the Rwandan genocide? An estimate
The Order of Genocide
Challenging the prevailing wisdom, Straus provides substantial new evidence about local patterns of violence, using original research - including the most comprehensive surveys yet undertaken among convicted perpetrators - to assess competing theories about the causes and dynamics of the genocide. Current interpretations stress three main causes for the genocide: ethnic identity, ideology, and mass-media indoctrination (in particular the influenc…
Perils of pluralism
Why do some multiparty elections lead to political violence while others do not? Despite extensive literatures on democratization, civil war, and violence against civilians in civil war, the topic of electoral violence has received less attention. We develop a set of theoretical propositions to explain this variation, testing them on an original dataset on African elections from 1990 to 2008. We find that elections in which an incumbent president…
The Road to Hell? Third‐Party Intervention to Prevent Atrocities
Preventing large‐scale atrocities has emerged as an important policy goal of the post–Cold War period. However, a debate exists about the effects of creating an international institution to prevent atrocities. Advocates of intervention argue that a credible threat to intervene should deter perpetrators and stop atrocities when deterrence fails. Critics argue that third‐party intervention, by strengthening weak minority groups and lowering the cos…
Remaking Rwanda
Second-Generation Comparative Research on Genocide
Comparative research on the determinants of genocide has surged in recent years, as reflected in the six books under review. The new research makes genocide studies more systematic and theoretical; integrates the topic into mainstream social science disciplines; points to three emerging explanatory paradigms; and yields some surprising cumulative findings. However, the works also reveal significant conceptual, empirical, and methodological proble…
"What Is the Relationship between Hate Radio and Violence? Rethinking Rwanda's "Radio Machete
The importance of hate radio pervades commentary on the Rwandan genocide, and Rwanda has become a paradigmatic case of media sparking extreme violence. However, there exists little social scientific analysis of radio's impact on the onset of genocide and the mobilization of genocide participants. Through an analysis of exposure, timing, and content as well as interviews with perpetrators, the article refutes the conventional wisdom that broadcast…
How many perpetrators were there in the Rwandan genocide? An estimate
Contested meanings and conflicting imperatives
(2001). Contested meanings and conflicting imperatives: A conceptual analysis of genocide. Journal of Genocide Research: Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 349-375
Destroy Them to Save Us
Based on an analytic review of recent scholarly advances in genocide studies, this article investigates the causes, concept, and logic of genocide while suggesting a set of theoretical propositions and avenues for future research. Two emerging theoretical streams of literature on causes—strategic and ideological—highlight different dimensions of genocide and should be thought of as compatible. The study of genocide should be embedded in a broader…
The Limits of a Genocide Lens
This reflection examines how to characterize histories of violence. The genocide in Rwanda has become, after years of labour, documentation, legal proceedings, testimony, and scholarship, a canonic
Darfur and the Genocide Debate
IN SUDAN'S western Darfur region, a massive campaign of ethnic violence has claimed the lives of more than 70,000 civilians and uprooted an estimated 1.8 million more since February 2003. The roots of the violence are complex and parts of the picture remain unclear. But several key facts are now well known. The primary perpetrators of the killings and expulsions are government-backed Arab militias. The main civilian victims are black Africans fro…
What drives violence against civilians in civil war? Evidence from Guatemala's conflict archives
Dominant theories of mass violence hold that strategic concerns in civil war drive the deliberate targeting of civilians. However, the causal mechanisms that link strategic objectives to large-scale violence against civilians remain underspecified, and as such the causal logics that underpin each remain blurred. In this article, we identify and explicate four plausible mechanisms that explain why armed groups would target, for strategic purposes,…
The Great Lakes of Africa
Africa's Stalled Development
Africa's Stalled Development
The Perils of Ethnicity
Genocide and enslavement
Conspiracy to Murder
Journal Article Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwanda Genocide and the International Community Get access Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwanda Genocide and the International Community by Linda Melvern. New York, Verso, 2004. 256 pp. $25.00. Scott Straus Scott Straus University of Wisconsin—Madison Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Political Science Quarterly, Volume 120, Issue 2, Summer 2005, Pages 348–350, https://d…
Moi
Moi
Contested meanings and conflicting imperatives
(2001). Contested meanings and conflicting imperatives: A conceptual analysis of genocide. Journal of Genocide Research: Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 349-375
The Perils of Ethnicity
The Shallow Graves of Rwanda
The Great Lakes of Africa
Africa's Stalled Development
How many perpetrators were there in the Rwandan genocide? An estimate
Africa's Stalled Development
Conspiracy to Murder
Journal Article Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwanda Genocide and the International Community Get access Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwanda Genocide and the International Community by Linda Melvern. New York, Verso, 2004. 256 pp. $25.00. Scott Straus Scott Straus University of Wisconsin—Madison Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Political Science Quarterly, Volume 120, Issue 2, Summer 2005, Pages 348–350, https://d…
Darfur and the Genocide Debate
IN SUDAN'S western Darfur region, a massive campaign of ethnic violence has claimed the lives of more than 70,000 civilians and uprooted an estimated 1.8 million more since February 2003. The roots of the violence are complex and parts of the picture remain unclear. But several key facts are now well known. The primary perpetrators of the killings and expulsions are government-backed Arab militias. The main civilian victims are black Africans fro…
Dangerous Sanctuaries
Journal Article Dangerous Sanctuaries: Refugee Camps, Civil War, and the Dilemmas of Humanitarian Aid by Sarah Kenyon Lischer Get access Dangerous Sanctuaries: Refugee Camps, Civil War, and the Dilemmas of Humanitarian Aidby Sarah Kenyon Lischer. Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press, 2005. 204pp. $35.00. Scott Straus Scott Straus University of Wisconsin, Madison Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Political Sc…
The Order of Genocide
Challenging the prevailing wisdom, Straus provides substantial new evidence about local patterns of violence, using original research - including the most comprehensive surveys yet undertaken among convicted perpetrators - to assess competing theories about the causes and dynamics of the genocide. Current interpretations stress three main causes for the genocide: ethnic identity, ideology, and mass-media indoctrination (in particular the influenc…
Second-Generation Comparative Research on Genocide
Comparative research on the determinants of genocide has surged in recent years, as reflected in the six books under review. The new research makes genocide studies more systematic and theoretical; integrates the topic into mainstream social science disciplines; points to three emerging explanatory paradigms; and yields some surprising cumulative findings. However, the works also reveal significant conceptual, empirical, and methodological proble…
"What Is the Relationship between Hate Radio and Violence? Rethinking Rwanda's "Radio Machete
The importance of hate radio pervades commentary on the Rwandan genocide, and Rwanda has become a paradigmatic case of media sparking extreme violence. However, there exists little social scientific analysis of radio's impact on the onset of genocide and the mobilization of genocide participants. Through an analysis of exposure, timing, and content as well as interviews with perpetrators, the article refutes the conventional wisdom that broadcast…
Why Not Kill Them All? The Logic and Prevention of Mass Political Murder by Daniel Chirot and Clark McCauley
Obituary
Remaking Rwanda
Political Science and Genocide
This article discusses the relationship between political science and genocide, focusing on three major themes. First, it discusses the evolution of genocide studies within the discipline and expands on this. Second, it identifies seminal contributions that have emerged from some four decades of political science studies of genocide: a methodological emphasis on the comparative method, including both quantitative and qualitative studies; a move t…
Destroy Them to Save Us
Based on an analytic review of recent scholarly advances in genocide studies, this article investigates the causes, concept, and logic of genocide while suggesting a set of theoretical propositions and avenues for future research. Two emerging theoretical streams of literature on causes—strategic and ideological—highlight different dimensions of genocide and should be thought of as compatible. The study of genocide should be embedded in a broader…
The Road to Hell? Third‐Party Intervention to Prevent Atrocities
Preventing large‐scale atrocities has emerged as an important policy goal of the post–Cold War period. However, a debate exists about the effects of creating an international institution to prevent atrocities. Advocates of intervention argue that a credible threat to intervene should deter perpetrators and stop atrocities when deterrence fails. Critics argue that third‐party intervention, by strengthening weak minority groups and lowering the cos…
Challenges, debates, and reflections on the “post” in “post-conflict” Côte d'Ivoire
How do you rebuild states after war? How do you restore confidence in state institutions weakened by violent conflict? How do you repair deeply divided social relations after more than a decade of
Making and Unmaking Nations
In Making and Unmaking Nations , Scott Straus seeks to explain why and how genocide takes place—and, perhaps more important, how it has been avoided in places where it may have seemed likely or even inevitable.
Making and Unmaking Nations
Aspirations démocratiques et « démocraties autoritaires » en Afrique centrale
Perils of pluralism
Why do some multiparty elections lead to political violence while others do not? Despite extensive literatures on democratization, civil war, and violence against civilians in civil war, the topic of electoral violence has received less attention. We develop a set of theoretical propositions to explain this variation, testing them on an original dataset on African elections from 1990 to 2008. We find that elections in which an incumbent president…
Political science (24 works) · Law (16 works) · Sociology (16 works) · Criminology (13 works) · Genocide (13 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (8 works) · Politics (8 works) · Global Peace and Security Dynamics (7 works) · Law (7 works) · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts (7 works)