Less than human : why we demean, enslave, and exterminate others

Smith, David Livingstone 1953- (Author).

Summary: Brute." "Cockroach." "Lice." "Vermin." People often regard other members of mankind as less than human, and use terms like these for those whom they wish to harm, enslave, or exterminate. Dehumanization has made atrocities like the Holocaust, the genocide in Rwanda, and the slave trade possible. But it isn't just a relic of the past. We still find it in war, genocide, xenophobia, and racism. Smith shows that it is a dangerous mistake to think of dehumanization as the exclusive preserve of Nazis, communists, terrorists, Jews, Palestinians, or any other monster of the moment. We are all potential dehumanizers, just as we are all potential objects of dehumanization

Record details

ISBN: 9780312532727
ISBN: 1250003830
ISBN: 9781250003836
Physical Description: viii, 326 pages ; 22 cm
print
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: New York : St. Martin's Griffin, 2011.
Copyright: ©2011

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-316) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Creatures of a kind somewhat inferior -- Less than human -- Steps toward a theory of dehumanization -- Caliban's children -- The rhetoric of enmity -- Learning from genocide -- Race -- The cruel animal -- Ambivalence and transgression -- Questions for a theory of dehumanization -- Psychological essentialism -- Paul Roscoe's theory of dehumanization in war.