Barbara Harff
Encyclopedia
Barbara Harff is Professor of Political Science Emerita at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland
. In 2003 and again in 2005 she was a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University
. Her research focuses on the causes, risks, and prevention of genocidal violence.
In the early 1980s, Harff began to develop a dataset on cases of genocide and political mass murder since 1945 to demonstrate that genocidal killings were far more common than widely believed. She identified and profiled 46 instances through 1985 This list provided the basis for systematic comparative analysis by her and others.
Harff’s list of cases included mass killings that targeted political groups such as the victims of China’s Cultural Revolution
(1966–75) and the Muslim Brotherhood
in Syria (1981–82) for which she termed the word politicide. The inclusion of these episodes along with genocidal killings targeting ethnic and religious groups has been largely but not entirely accepted by other scholars and by policy makers. However mass killings of political groups remain outside the legal definition of genocide formulated in the UN Genocide Convention of 1948.
From 1995 Harff served as senior consultant to the White-House initiated State Failure (now Political Instability) Task Force whose data set on state failures included her cases of genocide and politicide. In her work for the Task Force she designed data-based analyses of the preconditions and accelerators of genocidal killings for use by the Clinton and Bush Administrations. Her risk assessment model for genocide and its application to contemporary conflict situations was published in 2003
She also developed an early warning model to identify local, national, and international events that help turn high-risk situations into full-fledged genocidal killings. She applied this model, which identified some 70 categories of actions, to information on events that preceded mass atrocities in Bosnia, Rwandia, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo
Harff was one of the academic planners for the 2004 Stockholm International Forum on the Prevention of Genocide, in which delegations from more than 50 states participated, and presented her findings to that body. In a followup to the Forum she worked with Yehuda Bauer
and others to establish the international Genocide Prevention Advisory Network http://GPAnet.org. Since 2004 she has been asked to advise on genocide risks and prevention to the office of the UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, to government agencies in Switzerland and Sweden, and to the US intelligence community.
(2007), coedited with Joyce Apsel and published by the International Association of Genocide Studies. She also has written some sixty articles and chapters on the international and comparative dimensions of massive human rights violations. She has held visiting appointments as PIOOM Fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Conflicts, University of Leiden (1993), and Uppsala University
’s Department of Peace and Conflict Research (1996–97).
External Links
• U.S. Naval Academy
• University of Maryland
• Genocide Prevention Advisory Network
• Political Instability Task Force
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
. In 2003 and again in 2005 she was a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university and liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts.Founded in 1887, it is the oldest educational institution founded as an all-graduate university. Clark now also educates undergraduates...
. Her research focuses on the causes, risks, and prevention of genocidal violence.
Career
Harff’s dissertation at Northwestern University applied the international legal doctrine of humanitarian intervention to genocide. It was published in 1984 as a monograph on Genocide and Human Rights Before joining the US Naval Academy faculty in 1989 Harff held academic positions in the Department of Legal Studies, LaTrobe University, in Melbourne, Australia; the University of Illinois Chicago campus; and Marquette University. She retired from the Naval Academy in 2005.In the early 1980s, Harff began to develop a dataset on cases of genocide and political mass murder since 1945 to demonstrate that genocidal killings were far more common than widely believed. She identified and profiled 46 instances through 1985 This list provided the basis for systematic comparative analysis by her and others.
Harff’s list of cases included mass killings that targeted political groups such as the victims of China’s Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
(1966–75) and the Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
in Syria (1981–82) for which she termed the word politicide. The inclusion of these episodes along with genocidal killings targeting ethnic and religious groups has been largely but not entirely accepted by other scholars and by policy makers. However mass killings of political groups remain outside the legal definition of genocide formulated in the UN Genocide Convention of 1948.
From 1995 Harff served as senior consultant to the White-House initiated State Failure (now Political Instability) Task Force whose data set on state failures included her cases of genocide and politicide. In her work for the Task Force she designed data-based analyses of the preconditions and accelerators of genocidal killings for use by the Clinton and Bush Administrations. Her risk assessment model for genocide and its application to contemporary conflict situations was published in 2003
She also developed an early warning model to identify local, national, and international events that help turn high-risk situations into full-fledged genocidal killings. She applied this model, which identified some 70 categories of actions, to information on events that preceded mass atrocities in Bosnia, Rwandia, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo
Harff was one of the academic planners for the 2004 Stockholm International Forum on the Prevention of Genocide, in which delegations from more than 50 states participated, and presented her findings to that body. In a followup to the Forum she worked with Yehuda Bauer
Yehuda Bauer
Yehuda Bauer is a historian and scholar of the Holocaust. He is a Professor of Holocaust Studies at the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.-Biography:...
and others to establish the international Genocide Prevention Advisory Network http://GPAnet.org. Since 2004 she has been asked to advise on genocide risks and prevention to the office of the UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, to government agencies in Switzerland and Sweden, and to the US intelligence community.
Publications and Honors
Other publications include Ethnic Conflict in World Politics and Essays in Honor of Helen FeinHelen Fein
Helen Fein is a historical sociologist, Professor, specialized on genocide, human rights, collective violence and other issues. She is an author and editor of 12 books and monographs, Associate of International Security Program , a founder and first President of the International Association of...
(2007), coedited with Joyce Apsel and published by the International Association of Genocide Studies. She also has written some sixty articles and chapters on the international and comparative dimensions of massive human rights violations. She has held visiting appointments as PIOOM Fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Conflicts, University of Leiden (1993), and Uppsala University
Uppsala University
Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...
’s Department of Peace and Conflict Research (1996–97).
External Links
• U.S. Naval Academy
• University of Maryland
• Genocide Prevention Advisory Network
• Political Instability Task Force
- Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
External links
- http://GPANet.org
- http://globalpolicy.gmu.edu/genocide/