Citation

Klusemann S. Sociol. Forum 2010; 25(2): 272-295.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Eastern Sociological Society, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1573-7861.2010.01176.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of video recordings showing micro-situational events that preceded the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in which more than 7,000 Bosnian-Muslim men were killed by troops of the Bosnian Serb Army. The article focuses on the sequential unfolding of micro interactions and emotional dynamics that preceded the atrocity. Micro interactions constitute situational turning points toward, or away from, atrocities. Even if there are preplanned plots or macro-structural background conditions that lead particular persons to be motivated to commit violence, a micro-situational, emotional momentum is needed for atrocities to occur. The article brings together the analysis of video material of violent situations with Ekman’s research tools for emotional cues and Collins’s micro-sociological theory of violence.