Crime and Human Rights

Joachim J. Savelsberg is a Professor of Sociology and Law and the Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Chair at the University of Minnesota. Recent writings address issues of law regarding hate, genocide and atrocities, especially their public representations and collective memories. They include "Writing biography in the face of cultural trauma: Nazi descent and the management of spoiled identities" (American Journal of Cultural Sociology 2022), Knowing about Genocide: Armenian Suffering and Epistemic Struggles (University of California Press, 2021), Representing Mass Violence: Conflicting Responses to Human Rights Violations in Darfur (University of California Press, 2015), "Representing Human Rights Violations in Darfur: Global Justice, National Distinctions" (with Hollie Nyseth Brehm; American Journal of Sociology [AJS] 2015); American Memories: Atrocities and the Law (with Ryan D. King; Russell Sage Foundation, 2011); Crime and Human Rights: Criminology of Genocide and Atrocities (Sage, 2010); "Law and Collective Memory" (with King; Annual Review of Law & Social Science 2007); and "Institutionalizing Collective Memories of Hate: Law and Law Enforcement in Germany and the United States" (with King; AJS 2005).   Savelsberg is a past candidate for President of the American Society of Criminology (ASC), an ASC Fellow, and a recipient of the Freda Adler Scholarship Award. He held fellowships and Visiting Professorships at Johns Hopkins, Harvard, the universities of Graz, Munich, and Humboldt (Berlin), the Kaete Hamburger Center "Law as Culture" (Bonn), the Rockefeller Center at Bellagio, the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (South Africa) and the Paris Institute for Advanced Studies. Savelsberg is a past co-editor of the Law & Society Review), a past chair of the ASA Section for Sociology of Law, the ASA Section for Human Rights, and the SSSP Theory Division.

In this concise book... Joachim J. Savelsberg provides further illumination on a topic affecting the wellbeing and future of humanity, specifically through the lenses of criminology...Savelsberg’s book effectively achieves a number of objectives. Firstly, and perhaps importantly, this concise reading provides a meaningful contribution to the growing branches of critical and contemporary criminology, while providing original ideas to further enrich literature on genocide and atrocities. In writing on these crimes, Savelsberg adopts an international approach with the inclusion of case studies, research findings, laws and legal institutions from around the globe. Many opportunities for both theoretical and empirical research are also exposed, thus helping to encourage further research in this area and to facilitate multidisciplinary scholarly collaboration. Titles for each thematic section, chapter, and subsection headers are all posed as questions as a creative way to engage the reader in a conversation with Savelsberg. This makes the book all the more clear and lively, similar to attending a lecture Michael J. PuniskisCrime, Law and Social Change Joachim Savelsberg brings a unique perspective and research background to the topic of crime and human rights. The book provides a succinct and penetrating analysis that persuasively explains why contemporary criminology must widen its boundaries to make human rights crimes a priority for our field. This book is essential reading for scholars and studentsJohn HaganMacArthur Professor, Northwestern University

• IntroductionHow Have Governments Responded to Atrocities and Human Rights Violations?PART ONE: ARE THERE TRENDS IN CONTROLLING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS?When Are Atrocities Crimes?How and Why Have States and Governments Been Constrained?PART TWO: WHAT CAN CRIMINOLOGY CONTRIBUTE TO (AND LEARN FROM)THE STUDY OF SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS?IntroductionHow Does Genocide Unfold? The Case of the HolocaustCan Genocide Studies and Criminology Enrich Each Other?How Can Criminology Address Contemporary Atrocities?PART THREE: HOW CAN HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BE FOUGHT?What Is the Role of Criminal Courts?How Effective Can Courts Be and What Can Help Them?