Transcript Stages of Genocide

Genocide
The eight stages of genocide, as
defined by Gregory H. Stanton
Take notes on anything in YELLOW.
What are the eight stages of genocide?
Classification
Symbolization
Dehumanization
Organization
Polarization
Preparation
Extermination
Denial
Stage One: CLASSIFICATION
Insert Photo Here
Stage One: CLASSIFICATION
 The action of arranging things according to shared qualities
or characteristics.
 Everyday, we speak in terms of “us” versus“them.”
 Examples: our team/their team. Americans/Iraqis. Christians/Muslims.
Straights/gays.
 The more “bi-polar” the society is, the more likely a genocide is
to occur.
 Does not mean that every society in which classification occurs will
have a genocide occur.
 Can be done physically and/or ideologically
Stage One: CLASSIFICATION
Think/Share
Think of one way in which we separate
people in our culture.
Do you think this is likely to lead to a
genocide?
Why or why not?
Stage Two: SYMBOLIZATION
Stage Two: SYMBOLIZATION
 Symbolization occurs
 Voluntarily by a group to establish their own identity or
 By force so that the dominant group can easily identify them.
 In some cases, symbolization occurs even before classification, as
the symbols suggest they belong with a certain group, such as the
color of their skin or their physical features.
 Again, this stage is one that does not necessarily lead to genocide.
Stage Two: SYMBOLIZATION
Think/Share
Do groups you identified for the last stage
have symbols that allow them - or others to tell them apart? If so, what are they?
Stage Three: DEHUMANIZATION
Stage Three: DEHUMANIZATION
One group denies the humanity of the other
group.
 Members of that group are equated with rodents,
insects, other vermin, and even diseases.
If this stage takes hold, it becomes more
difficult to stop the progression of genocide.
Stage Three: DEHUMANIZATION
Think/Share
Why is it necessary for a dominant power
to dehumanize the victims of a genocide
Why would it be impossible for a genocide
to accomplish its goal without this stage?
Stage Four: ORGANIZATION
Stage Four: ORGANIZATION
 In order for the final stages of genocide to take place,
organization must occur.
 The group that organizes in preparation is typically part of the
state due to the amount of financial support required. They are
most often sanctioned - at least to some extent - by a state.
 To a certain extent, you should think of this stage as the
proverbial “calm before the storm.” The roots of the final stages
are beginning to take hold, but very little is actually being done to
the victimized group yet.
Stage Four: ORGANIZATION
Think/Share
What specifics would have to be worked
out by the enactors of a genocide?
Stage Five: POLARIZATION
“Go where you wanted me to go,
you evil spirit.”
Stage Five: POLARIZATION
 During this stage, the groups are driven even further apart
ideologically.
 Hate groups begin broadcasting propaganda with greater
frequency, and laws typically are enacted to forbid any sort
of relations between the two groups.
 At this stage, it is not just the victimized group that suffers.
Any “sympathizers” or moderates are either threatened or
attacked by the dominant, oppressing group.
Stage Five: POLARIZATION
Think/Share:
Have you ever seen a piece of propaganda
intended to polarize groups?
If you have, please describe it. If you have
not, please try to imagine what it might
look like.
Stage Six: PREPARATION
Stage Six: PREPARATION
 Whereas in the previous stage the victimized group was separated
ideologically from the dominant group, in this stage the
victimized group is separated physically from the rest of the
society. (Physical separation begins to occur)
 The victimized group or groups are gathered together, either in
ghettoes or concentration camps. At times, they are even forced
into a famine-struck area and starved, beginning the seventh stage
of genocide.
At this stage, the world typically becomes aware of what is going
on, whether they actually step in or not.
Stage Six: PREPARATION
Think/Share
Assuming that at this stage, the world cannot help
but notice that the victimized group is being
forced from their homes in preparation to be
slaughtered, why wouldn’t this be the stage
where every genocide ends?
This is not a rhetorical question.
Stage Seven: EXTERMINATION
 This is the stage where this process legally becomes
genocide.
 Mass killings occur quickly and systematically.
 When genocide is sponsored by the state, as it almost
always is, the armed forces typically work with wellorganized militias to exterminate the victims.
Stage Seven: EXTERMINATION
Think/Share
What previous stage or stages allow(s)
extermination to happen so quickly?
If you think that the answer is “all of them,”
please identify which stage or stages most enable
the rapidity of the execution.
Stage Eight: DENIAL
Stage Eight: DENIAL
 If intervention does not occur during the seventh stage of genocide, denial always
follows extermination.
 The evidence that the genocide ever occurred is systematically eradicated; mass graves
are dug and bodies are burned.
 Witnesses are bribed, intimidated, or killed.
 Investigations into the crimes are blocked by the government that committed the
atrocities. (State sovereignty is enacted)
 Typically, the victims of the genocide are blamed for their fates if their disappearance
is brought up.
Stage Eight: DENIAL
Think/Share
Think about the psychological factors that would
contribute to the effectiveness of the denial.
How could someone who witnessed or took part
in a genocide come to believe that a genocide
had not occurred?
Homework
1. With your group: How has your understanding of
genocide changed with the identification of stages?
Does it make sense? Is it logical? Why or why not?
2. Come up with an acronym for the 8 stages of
genocide.
You can find the information in this presentation
at www.genocidewatch.org/8stages.htm. This
website also contains suggestions about how to
stop genocide at each of the stages.
Images taken from http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/sturmer.htm and various
sources found through Google Images.
Presentation created by Mr. Levandowski for use at Princeton High School.