- December 04, 2020
By Matthias Häussler
Translated by Elizabeth Janik
Published by Berghahn Books (2021)
Drawing on previously inaccessible and overlooked archival sources, The Herero Genocide undertakes a groundbreaking investigation into the war between colonizer and colonized in what was formerly German South-West Africa and is today the nation of Namibia. In addition to its eye-opening depictions of the starvation, disease, mass captivity, and other atrocities suffered by the Herero, it reaches surprising conclusions about the nature of imperial dominion, showing how the colonial state’s genocidal posture arose from its own inherent weakness and military failures. The result is an indispensable account of a genocide that has been neglected for too long.
“Häussler is an expert in sociological conceptualizations of violence . . . his findings are both soundly linked to the historiographical debates and thoroughly grounded in the empirical material.” – Marie Muschalek, The Journal of African History
“Häussler’s work is an innovative, at times brilliant study that deserves a wide readership – hopefully, and thanks to the translation, now also in English-speaking countries.” – Lukas Grawe, Central European History