Fourth Biennial IAGS Conference

The fourth biennial meeting of the Association of Genocide Scholars (AGS)--renamed the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS)--on June 10-12, 2001 at the University of Minnesota drew  about 200 persons from 13 countries. Presenters came from Australia , Canada , Belgium , Denmark , France , Ireland , Israel , Macedonia , Mexico , South Africa , Sweden , the United Kingdom and the United States . The IAGS now has 182 members, almost four times as many as at its first conference in 1995. Its members come from diverse academic and applied fields:  anthropology, conflict resolution, criminal justice, history, international law, international relations, journalism, medicine, philosophy, political science, psychology, regional studies, religion, and sociology.

The wide range of presentations (see Program with email addresses herein) began with responses to the conference theme proclaimed by outgoing AGS President Frank Chalk:  "Deterring and Preventing Genocide:  Missed Opportunities, Contemporary Issues and Future Possibilities" (Panels 1, 2, 7, 14). Attitudes toward prevention ranged from skepticism to a sense of guarded possibilities to positive and proposals were advanced for a social movement and an international campaign to end genocide.

Besides these questions there were explanations of causes and responses regarding recent genocides ( Rwanda , Bosnia [panels 4 and 9]), explorations of how genocide is propagated (Panels 12 and 19), and historical analyses of less well known cases and putative or future cases (Panels 5, 16, 18). There were also panels on the growth of international law (Panel 22) and teaching about genocide (Panel 21). Two novel themes explored in separate sessions were the function of cruelty (Panel 8) and the relevance of childhood and gender as variables in genocide studies (Panel 11). 

Remembrance, Reconciliation, and Judgment

Several papers on the Holocaust, including US responses, were presented in Panels 17 and 18 and an evening video session on 11 June (see program). The character and effects of examples of remembrance was discussed in Panel 10: "The Range of Shoah Remembrance : From Concentration camp to Cybertourism."

Other presenters considered how peoples have coped or might respond to past genocides and crimes against humanity future in Guatemala and South Africa (Panel 3), Cambodia (Panel 7), Germany (Panel 17), and Bosnia and East Africa (Panel 20). Related to this were the papers on the politics of denial and memory of genocide in Australia , Cambodia , Germany , Indonesia and Israel (Panels 13, 17 and 21) and the continuing denial of the Armenian genocide (Panel 6).  Directors of Holocaust and Genocide Studies centers in Australia, Denmark, Israel, Sweden and the US discussed issues confronting them (Panel 15).

Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald (US), former President and presiding judge of the International Criminal Tribunal on War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia spoke of her experiences in the Hague and her personal journey from enforcing civil rights laws in the US to leading an international  team in the ground-breaking prosecution of war crimes and genocide. Ervin Staub related his experiences in intergroup work in Rwanda to attempt to reduce future reoccurrence of genocide and collective vengeance and to educate Rwandans on their causes.

The IAGS elected new officers--Joyce Apsel as President, Robert Melson as First Vice-President--and re-elected Steven Jacobs as Secretary-Treasurer and Colin Tatz as Second Vice-President. At the business meeting, officers and members expressed their desire to encourage international participation, both by changing the name from ISG to IAGS and holding some meetings outside North America .  For future developments, see the website:  www.isg-iags.org