Politicide
Politicide is the deliberate physical destruction of a group whose members share the main characteristic of belonging to a political movement. It is a type of political repression, and one means of the political cleansing of population, with another being forced migration. It may be compared to genocide or ethnic cleansing, which involve killing people based on membership in a racial or ethnic group rather than holding a political ideology.[1]
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".[1]
See also
- Anti-communist mass killings
- Classicide
- Democide
- Hundred Flowers Campaign
- Mass killings under Communist regimes
References and notes
- ^ 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.
Further reading
- Harff, Barbara. Genocide Politicide, Integrated Network for Societal Conflict Research (INSCR), University of Maryland