Citation

Hinton A. Genocide Stud. Prev. 2019; 13(3): 128-144.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, University of Toronto Press)

DOI

10.5038/1911-9933.13.3.1677

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Despite its rapid proliferation over the past fifteen years, genocide and atrocity crimes prevention studies are often blinded by normative assumptions and conceptual blinder. This essay argues that any effort at prevention must begin with a first critical lesson, one revealed in the essay's opening line and writing style. This first lesson suggests a path toward a more critical prevention studies, one involving critique, archeology, and pharmakon. In addition to discussing such conceptual bases for a critical prevention studies, this essay also models how literary strategies, ranging from narrative to poetic form, may help with such a critical endeavor, opening up spaces of reflection instead of closing them with too often dry and linear expository academic prose. Indeed, such openness and reflexivity - too rarely seen in the highly normative and prescriptive prevention literature -- is at the heart of this key first lesson for critical genocide prevention studies.