Cultural Genocide

Abstract: This thesis creates an ideal type model for the concept of cultural genocide and uses this model to analyze the relevance of the concept to the field of peace- and conflict studies. It does so through analysis of three cases, the destruction of Yuanmingyuan during the British-French North Shina Campaign of 1860, the destruction of the Buddha statues of Bamiyan by the Taliban in 2001 and the Canadian Residential School system of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as through comparison to the concept of genocide. Instances of cultural genocide and genocide are identified in the cases and further discussed. The concepts of genocide and cultural genocide are found to be different and the implementation of the concept of cultural genocide in peace- and conflict studies research is discussed and the conclusion drawn that it has a warranted place in the discipline.