Taking Lives: Genocide and State Power

Taking Lives is a pivotal effort to reconstruct the social & political contexts of twentieth century, state-inspired mass murder. Irving Louis Horowitz re-examines genocide from a new perspective--viewing this issue as the defining element in the political sociology of our time. The fifth edition includes approximately 30 percent new materials with five new chapters. The work is divided into five parts: "Present as History Past as Prologue," "Future as Memory," "Toward A General Theory of State-Sponsored Crime," "Studying Genocide." The new edition concludes with chapters reviewing the natural history of genocide studies from 1945 to the present, along with a candid self-appraisal of the author's work in this field over four decades. Taking Lives asserts that genocide is not a sporadic or random event, nor is it necessarily linked to economic development or social progress. Genocide is a special sort of mass destruction conducted with the approval of the state apparatus. Life & death issues are uniquely fundamental, since they alone serve as a precondition for the examination of all other issues. Such concerns move us beyond abstract, formalist frameworks into new ways of viewing the social study of the human condition. Nearly all reviewers of earlier editions have recognized this. Taking Lives is a fundamental work for political scientists, sociologists, & all those concerned with the state's propensity toward evil. "This book will long be read not in the hackneyed sense of a 'social science classic' but because it will continue to state the case so brilliantly & persuasively for a human & creative democratic society."--Anselm L. Strauss. "Horowitz alerts us to a key question concerning sociological death, well within the tradition of Durkheim, Weber, Sorokin, & Mills."--George Hillery. "Horowitz has located the paramount feature that distinguishes one society from another. No one can evade his challenge to judge a society by the number of people it kills. Taking Lives is written with literary grace by a brilliant scholar & committed moralist." -- Charles C. Moskos.

Irving Louis Horowitz is Hannah Arendt Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Political Science at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey