What forces make and shape perpetrators of mass atrocities? What makes them tick and ultimately resort to horrific violence? What explains their behaviour, and their decision to resort to the commission of international crimes? What can understanding different motivations and perpetrator types reveal about how mass political violence is waged and instigated? 

In exploring typologies of perpetrators and by troubling dichotomies all-too common to the study of mass political violence, these questions are among those Alette Smeulers seeks to answer in her new book Perpetrators of Mass Atrocities Terribly and Terrifyingly Normal?, published by Routledge in 2024.

Justice in Conflict is honoured and excited to announce that over the next few days, we will host an online symposium on Smeulers’ book, with contributions from authors and experts in the fields of international criminal law and justice, transitional justice, political violence, and history. Contributors to the symposium include Mina Rauschenbach, Iva Vukusic, Carola Lingaas, Bart Nauta, Nandor Knust, and of course, Alette herself.

The following is a description the contents of Smeulers’ book and its aims:

The 9/11 attacks, as well as the ones in Madrid, London, Paris and Brussels; the genocides in Nazi Germany, Rwanda and Cambodia; the torture in dictatorial regimes; the wars in former Yugoslavia, Syria and Iraq and currently in Ukraine; the sexual violence during periods of conflict, all make us wonder: why would anyone do something like that? Who are these people? Drawing on 30 years of research, in this book Alette Smeulers explores the perpetrators of mass atrocities such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and terrorism. Examining questions of why people kill and torture and how mass atrocities can be explained, Smeulers presents a typology of perpetrators, with different ranks, roles and motives.

Devoting one chapter to each type of perpetrator, the book combines insights from academic research with illustrative case studies of well-known perpetrators, from dictators to middlemen, to lower ranking officials and terrorists. Their stories are explored in depth as the book examines their behaviour and motivation. Perpetrators of Mass Atrocities thus provides a comprehensive understanding of the causes of extreme mass violence. Such knowledge not only can help the international criminal justice system to be able to attribute blame in a fairer way but can also assist in preventing such atrocities being committed on the current scale.

Perpetrators of Mass Atrocities is essential reading for all those interested in war crimes, genocide, terrorism and mass violence

The contributors to the symposium examine the key themes of the book, advances that Smeulers’ works makes to our understanding of how people become perpetrators of mass atrocities, and also look forward to the need for ongoing and novel avenues of research.

The contributions thus far are:

• Who commits international crimes? A typology of perpetrators, by Alette Smeulers
• The Traumatized Perpetrator – “I actually murdered somebody. I felt very bad about that and I just wanted to run away.”, by Bart Nauta
• ‘What are perpetrators actually doing, and to whom?’ A call to focus on the actions of perpetrators of mass atrocities, by Iva Vukušić
• ‘The greatest danger is in failing to recognize that societies can be structured to make atrocity normal’: From Yugoslav Atrocity Perpetrators to Intergenerational Extremism, by Mirza Buljubašić‘
• Tailoring & Categorization in Transitional Justice: The possible impact of Smeulers’ ‘Perpetrators of Mass Atrocities: Terribly and Terrifyingly Normal?’ within the holistic system of post-conflict justice, by Nandor Knust
• ‘A new standard on perpetrator research’ – An Enthusiastic Encyclopaedia of Perpetrators, by Carola Lingaas
• The Dynamics and Moral ambiguities of Perpetration: Exploring the Intersection of Individual Agency and Structural Factors in Atrocity Crimes, by Mina Rauschenbach

Interested readers can purchase a copy of Alette’s book (in paperback or hardback) here.

Thank you as always to our readers and contributors. We hope you’ll join us in reading and engaging with this timely, important, and exciting symposium!