Politicide
Politicide are the destruction of a political movement in three different ways:
1. Political entity destruction. A systematic attempt to cause the annihilation in whole or in part of an independent political and social entity,[1] Examples include the Bodo League massacre by South Korean anti-communists.[2] cites the following sources:
2. Political group genocide. Deliberate physical destruction of a group whose members share the main characteristic of belonging to a political movement; the systematic destruction of such groups is not covered as genocide under the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG). The CPPCG only covers the deliberate physical destruction of national, ethnic, racial and religious groups.[3] The social scientists Barbara Harff and Ted R. Gurr uses policide to describe the killing of groups of people who are targeted not because of shared ethnic or communal traits (the types of groups covered by the CPPCG), but because of "their hierarchical position or political opposition to the regime and dominant groups".[3]
3. Political suicide. An action which irreparably damages a person's own political career (political suicide).[4] For example, in The Kansas City Star on 23 February, 1996: "James didn't even finish his inaugural address before committing politicide."[5]
See also[edit]
- Policide
- Crimes against humanity
- Anti-communist mass killings
- Mass killings under Communist regimes
- Hundred Flowers Campaign
References and notes[edit]
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary in its entry for politicide notes the first usage as: 1968 Y. HARKABI Fedayeen Action & Arab Strategy 11/2 The Arabs' objective of destroying the state of Israel (what may be called a 'politicide') drives them to genocide.
- ^ Grant Barrett politicide in the Double-Tongued Dictionary
- ^ a b Origins and Evolution of the Concept in the Science Encyclopedia by Net Industries states "Politicide, as [Barbara] Harff and [Ted R.] Gurr define it, refers to the killing of groups of people who are targeted not because of shared ethnic or communal traits, but because of 'their hierarchical position or political opposition to the regime and dominant groups' (p. 360)". This reference does not give the book title to go with the page number.
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary politicide
- ^ The Kansas City Star quote is the second example of the use politicide as political suicide by the Oxford English Dictionary
Further reading[edit]
- Harff, Barbara. Genocide Politicide, Integrated Network for Societal Conflict Research (INSCR), University of Maryland
External links[edit]
The dictionary definition of politicide at Wiktionary
The dictionary definition of 
