More Than a Word? “Genocide” and Public Opinion in the United States Benjamin A. Valentino Associate Professor of Government Dartmouth College & Ethan Weinberg

The Power of a Word? “The UN Report, together with the resulting news reports, made the struggle for Darfur intervention more difficult by undercutting efforts by Darfur action groups to mobilize public support. With headlines such as Murder-But No Genocide, the motivation to intervene was gone. Murder is bad, to be sure – but murder is ordinary. One might lobby Congress to do something about genocide, but who ever heard of lobbying Congress to stop foreigners from murdering each other.” David Luban, Professor of Law and Philosophy Georgetown University Law Center.

The Power of a Word? “What is new about Darfur, human rights interventionists will tell you, is the realization that sometimes we must respond ethically and not wait. That time is when genocide is occurring. But how do we know it is genocide? Because we are told it is. This is why the battle for naming turns out to be all- important: Once Darfur is named as the site of genocide, people recognize something they have already seen elsewhere and conclude that what they know is enough to call for action. They need to know no more in order to act. But calling the violence in Darfur genocide has… conferred impunity on [one party to a civil war] by casting them as resisters to genocide… and has served to further racialize the conflict and give legitimacy to those who seek to punish rather than to reconcile. Thus, the movement to save Darfur, which initially had the effect of directing world attention to the horrendous violence in Darfur, must now bear some of the blame for delaying reconciliation by focusing on a single- minded pursuit of revenge as punishment.” Mahmood Mamdani, Saviors and Survivors

“CONTROL” STORY

“GENOCIDE” STORY

% agreeing that event qualifies as “genocide” “definitely genocide” difference statistically significant (p=.008)

Genocide Framing and Ethical Judgments/Support for Intervention

% agreeing that event qualifies as “genocide” “definitely genocide” difference statistically significant (p=.008)

“In your personal opinion, should it be called “genocide” if a government tries to kill large numbers of innocent civilians from a particular racial group in the effort to defeat an armed rebellion by some members of that racial group?”

More Than a Word? “Genocide” and Public Opinion in the United States Benjamin A. Valentino Associate Professor of Government Dartmouth College & Ethan Weinberg

Which Historical Events* Qualify as “Genocide”? * “apart from the Holocaust and the violence in Congo described in the article you just read…”