Sustaining Social Conflict

Genocide researchers E. N. Anderson and Barbara A. Anderson examine the sociological underpinnings of genocide. They analyze factors that motivate groups to deem people undesirable and subhuman while blaming them for societal misfortunes. Incorporating recent studies in psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and public health, the authors explore the roles of greed, hate, fear, and intolerance in a community's acceptance of genocide. They point specifically to the recent rise of right-wing authoritarianism and corporate interests as alarming triggers leading to an increase of hate and intolerance directed at minority and vulnerable groups. The authors again draw on the “wolf you feed” metaphor from their previous work, which argues that good or evil outcomes depend on whether society approaches its problems with tolerance and understanding or hate and blame. They conclude with practical solutions. This book complements the authors’ other works on genocide: Warning Signs of Genocide (CH, May'13, 50-5061), Halting Genocide in America (2017), and Complying with Geocide: The Wolf You Feed (CH, Sep'21, 59-0170). Together, these studies offer a needed broad, multidisciplinary synthesis of the literature on the psychology and sociology of hate, prejudice, mass killings, and genocide. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.

* Choice Reviews *

Grounded in the progressive spirit of tolerance and humanism, Sustaining Social Conflict calls attention to the woes of dehumanization and collective violence, and reminds the reader of the virtues of altruism and empathy, and their evolutionary roles in the reinforcement of group solidarity among humans above all other social animals. In its compelling case for the embodiment of the proverbial good wolf within us, this book incisively categorizes evil that we may better recognize its influence over and mobilization of its enactors, particularly those who are well-meaning. The authors provide an overview of the ecology of human ethics—and their breakdown—across the span of the human timeline, fusing the frameworks of seminal social scientists such as Khaldun with perspectives reflective of and applicable to the time of Covid.

-- Alexis Álvarez, New Mexico Public Education Department

Insightful, wide-ranging, and engaging, Sustaining Social Conflict grapples with a critical issue: the interwoven origins of violence, hate, and evil. The authors offer not just explanation, but also solutions—as well as moral considerations the reader will continue to ponder long after finishing the book.

-- Alex Hinton, Rutgers University; author of It Can Happen Here: White Power and the Rising Threat of Genocide in the US