Gregory H. Stanton — Ten Stages of Genocide

31 published claims from this book.

• Classification and symbolization alone are harmless unless they escalate to dehumanization
• Classification and symbolization alone are human universals, not genocidal precursors
• Classification and symbolization alone do not cause genocide
• Comparing victims to animals makes their murder easier
• Comparing victims to vermin and disease makes killing them psychologically easier
• Corpses left in rivers amplified disease-driven killing among survivors
• CUP leaders applied all ten genocidal stages to Ottoman Armenians
• Denial always follows genocide and signals further massacres
• Denial is a reliable predictor of further genocidal massacres
• Denial of past genocide signals readiness for future genocidal massacres
• Excessive social segregation between groups raises genocide likelihood
• Extermination stage killing requires that killers see victims as less than fully human
• Genocidal marches weaponized the environment so survivors faced disease and camps
• Genocidal preparation hides intent behind euphemisms and manufactures fear of victims
• Genocide always requires organized state or militia planning
• Genocide is always deliberately organized rather than spontaneous
• Impunity following the Adana Massacre fueled a nationalist Pan-Turkism movement
• Killing community leaders preceded mass extermination across Ottoman lands
• Ottoman Armenians faced legalized second-class status through discriminatory laws
• Persecution marks the threshold where deliberate partial destruction of a group begins
• Persecution precedes mass killing by isolating victims and drawing death lists
• Persecution separates victims and begins massacres short of outright genocide
• Polarization suppresses moderates through terrorist intimidation
• Preoccupying world war created the opportunity window for genocide
• Symbol bans fail without social support but succeed when the public resists collectively
• Targeting community elites preceded and enabled the broader Armenian genocide
• The ten genocide stages are non-linear and earlier stages persist throughout
• The term extermination reflects killers’ belief victims are not fully human
• The Turkish state criminalizes discussion of the Armenian Genocide by statute
• Turkey criminalized discussing the Armenian genocide in 2004
• Visible markers made Armenians an easily targeted distinct group