Cultural genocide is the systematic destruction of traditions, values, language, and other elements that make one group of people distinct from another.Cultural genocide remains a recurrent topic, appearing not only in the form of wide-ranging claims about the commission of cultural genocide in diverse contexts but also in the legal sphere, as exemplified by the discussions before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and also the drafting of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. These discussions have, however, displayed the lack of a uniform understanding of the concept of cultural genocide and thus of the role that international law is expected to fulfil in this regard. The Concept of Cultural Genocide: An International Law Perspective details how international law has approached the core idea underlying the concept of cultural genocide and how this framework can be strengthened and fostered. It traces developments from the early conceptualisation of cultural genocide to the contemporary question of its reparation. Through this journey, the book discusses the evolution of various branches of international law in relation to both cultural protection and cultural destruction in light of a number of legal cases in which either the concept of cultural genocide or the idea of cultural destruction has been discussed. Such cases include the destruction of cultural and religious heritage in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the forced removals of Aboriginal children in Australia and Canada, and the case law of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in relation to Indigenous and tribal groups' cultural destruction.

This book explores concepts of Cultural genocide, its definitions, place in international law, the systems and methods that contribute to its manifestations, and its occurrences. Through a systematic approach and comprehensive analysis, international and interdisciplinary contributors from the fields of genocide studies, legal studies, criminology, sociology, archaeology, human rights, colonial studies, and anthropology examine the legal, structural, and political issues associated with cultural genocide. This includes a series of geographically representative case studies from the USA, Brazil, Australia, West Papua, Iraq, Palestine, Iran, and Canada. This volume is unique in its interdisciplinarity, regional coverage, and the various methods of cultural genocide represented, and will be of interest to scholars of genocide studies, cultural studies and human rights, international law, international relations, indigenous studies, anthropology, and history.

This volume engages the concept and related notions of cultural hegemony, cultural erosion, cultural hybridity and cultural survival by considering whether five regimes in Asia deploy policies aimed at extirpating the language, religion, arts, customs or other elements of the cultures of non-dominant peoples.

This book considers different stages of Kurdish history, oppression, and genocide through a critical lens, offering an historiography of Iraq and colonialism. Divided into two parts, the first part conceptualizes the coined term “genocide culture” and examines dominant Iraqi cultural practices that fostered genocide. The second part contextualizes the experiences of the Kurdish community to examine the effects of cultural practices and the role of “civilian actors” in fueling the extermination of targeted groups. Through semi-structured interviews, primary archival documents, and nonparticipant observation, the author studies the links between everyday cultural practices and microaggression in general and the nexus between the state and the general population in the implementation of macroaggression and genocide. The audience will include scholars and students interested in genocide studies and the relation of both genocide and culture to histories of colonialism, as well as those working in the fields of violence and cultural psychology, sociology, history, international relations, ethnic conflict, and Middle Eastern studies.

Essay from the year 2017 in the subject World History - Early and Ancient History, grade: 98.3%, University of Waterloo, language: English, abstract: Beginning in the 1870’s, over one hundred fifty thousand First Nations, Metis and Inuit children were forcibly taken from their families and placed in Indian Residential schools. Funded by the Canadian government and Christian led, the system sought to “kill the Indian in the child,” the last institution not closing until 1996. The forcible assimilation of aboriginal children through the residential school system greatly contributed to the cultural genocide of Canadian aboriginals by breaking the links to their culture and identity, consequently threatening their existence as a group. The schools also forcibly assimilated the children into the “white-Canadian culture.” Further to this, the residential school employees inflicted physical harm on the students which left physical and emotional scars that prevented them from functioning in their communities in the long run. This essay employs the term ‘cultural genocide’ based on the definition provided by The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada which states that, “ Cultural genocide is the destruction of those structures and practices that allow the group to continue as a group. States that engage in cultural genocide set out to destroy the political and social institutions of the targeted group. Land is seized, and populations are forcibly transferred and their movement is restricted. Languages are banned. Spiritual leaders are persecuted, spiritual practices are forbidden, and objects of spiritual value are confiscated and destroyed. And, most significantly to the issue at hand, families are disrupted to prevent the transmission of cultural values and identity from one generation to the next.”

Extracts from published sources about oppression, colonisation of indigenous peoples; Dreaming; dispossession, massacres; contemporary struggles, the nuclear state, mining and multinationals, land rights, racism, education, health, sterilisation of women, tourism, women in the workforce, outstations, homelands movement. The texts are written by indigenous peoples.