Identicide
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Identicide is the deliberate, systematic and targeted destruction of the places, symbols, objects, including ideas, values and aesthetica, and other
cultural property Cultural property does not have a universal definition, but it is commonly considered to be tangible (physical, material) items that are part of the cultural heritage of a group or society, as opposed to less tangible cultural expressions. They i ...
that represent the identity of a people, with the intent to erase the cultural narrative and memory of that people, demoralize a population, absorb it into another cultural/political verity, or to rid an area of that people altogether. Examples of identicide can be observed in the destruction of the Bridge of Mostar and the
National and University Library The National and University Library (french: Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire; abbreviated BNU) is a public library in Strasbourg, France. It is located on Place de la République, the former ''Kaiserplatz'', and faces the ''Palais du ...
in
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
, and the willful damage of Islamic iconography and archaeological treasures such as
Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early secon ...
by ISIL in Syria. Identicide offers a way to frame some of the destructive acts that precede
genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...
. The international convention on Genocide does not include this predictive framework. Genocidal acts must have already taken place for a situation to be legally termed "genocide." Because it cannot be named as such until after the fact, earlier intentional and destructive acts are often termed ‘potential genocide’ or ‘possible genocide’. Identicide is a term that captures the force of pre-genocidal acts and is a phenomenon unto itself.   In being a series of acts or pre-emptive stages of genocide or as an alternative to genocide, identicide incorporates many of the other more specific phenomena and related activities ending in “-cide”, including
ethnocide Ethnocide is the extermination of cultures. Reviewing the legal and the academic history of the usage of the terms genocide and ethnocide, Bartolomé Clavero differentiates them by stating that "Genocide kills people while ethnocide kills socia ...
,
topocide Topocide is the deliberate alteration or destruction of a locale through industrial expansion and change, so that its original landscape and character are destroyed. An alternative term is Domicide (from Latin ''domus'', meaning home or abode, ...
, terracide,
democide Democide is a term coined by American political scientist Rudolph Rummel to describe "the intentional killing of an unarmed or disarmed person by government agents acting in their authoritative capacity and pursuant to government policy or high ...
, memoricide,
urbicide Urbicide is a term which literally translates (Latin: ''urbs'': city + Latin: ''occido'': to kill) as "violence against the city". The term was first coined by the author Michael Moorcock in 1963 and later used since the 1960s by urban planners a ...
,
gendercide Gendercide is the systematic killing of members of a specific gender. The term is related to the general concepts of assault and murder against victims due to their gender, with violence against women and men being problems dealt with by human r ...
, gynocide, sociocide and domicide. These other -cides are elements that contribute to cultural identity, denoting the destruction of a part or aspect of it. Identicide determines the destruction of the whole.


Identity

Perpetrators of identicide understand that cultural identity is built into places created over centuries of living in place, and a marginalized group can be weakened and unalterably changed through the destruction of their places. The destruction results in people leaving their places, or a loss of distinctiveness in place, and can achieve the result intended by the perpetrators. According to Meharg, identicide is a deliberate act, normally performed as a tactic of armed conflict, but more specifically is Identicide can be a precursor to
genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...
but does not necessarily result in genocide.


Etymology

The term was coined in 1998 by Sarah Jane Meharg, Ph.D. while completing her studies at the
Royal Military College of Canada '') , established = 1876 , type = Military academy , chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Harry Kowal , head_label ...
. It was later published in her Masters of Arts (War Studies)
thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...
in 1999.Meharg, Sarah Jane. 1999. "MAKING IT, BREAKING IT, AND MAKING IT AGAIN: The importance of identity in the destruction and reconstruction of war-tom societies." M.A. thesis. https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp01/MQ44852.pdf


Cultural geography

Identicide, as argued by Meharg, is centered around erasing the link between
people A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
and their places, in order to weaken cultural identity and create anomie.  These roots of
identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...
are not only embedded within the people who inhabit a certain region, but also among the cultural infrastructure (i.e. castles, houses, engineering feats, routes/paths, bridges etc.), symbols (i.e. monuments, statues), signs,
language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
(i.e. any form of literature,
libraries A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...
), and social behaviors that support the functionality and cohesiveness a given
community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...
and contribute to their uniqueness and specificity that could be recalled, affecting the
memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered ...
of their unique heritage, historical power and environment and ethnic leverage in a region over time.  The continued presence of such material and places allow a people’s identity to continue to live on, whether those people still exist, have evolved or have been eliminated, and as such their identity remains preserved in the memory of mankind and society.  Such examples include monuments and statues, which “are best thought of as devices of communication rather than aesthetic representations: as such, they underscore…the ‘reworking of memory.’”


Armed conflict

The tactics involved in identicide involve those that eliminate the bond between places and people, to include (but not restricted to) the burning of libraries and
literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
, the bombing of symbolic and
sacred sites Sacred space, sacred ground, sacred place, sacred temple, holy ground, or holy place refers to a location which is deemed to be sacred or hallowed. The sacredness of a natural feature may accrue through tradition or be granted through a bless ...
, as well as the appropriation of the vernacular places that have no
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
importance during conflict with the exception that a group of people is rooted to these places and material and identifies with them. The co-opting of place by identity groups is a threat to the status quo during conflicts, and it becomes a tactical approach to destroy that which represents identity (
beliefs A belief is an attitude that something is the case, or that some proposition is true. In epistemology, philosophers use the term "belief" to refer to attitudes about the world which can be either true or false. To believe something is to take i ...
, ways, practices,
rituals A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...
) and which inspires them as a people; this last point contributes to the end objective of sustaining gains in
warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regul ...
by a belligerent by eliminating the ability of an
enemy An enemy or a foe is an individual or a group that is considered as forcefully adverse or threatening. The concept of an enemy has been observed to be "basic for both individuals and communities". The term "enemy" serves the social function of d ...
to retaliate in destroying its will through erasing its identity. Belligerents seek to systematically destroy identity elements, causing anomie and other behavioral and attitudinal reactions, which can result in the group moving away, or submitting to control.


Peace

Identicide can take many forms, where the intense killing of a people in a short amount of time, as well as the physical destruction of its link with a place or region, are the more recognizable acts that fall within its scope.  However, longer term and more subtle acts, such as absorbing and integrating a culture within another through the transformation of religion, language, and social practices, or imposing/preventing demographic shifts within a community, with a final outcome to deliberately eliminate the remnants of a specific people and their landscape, could also be viewed as forms of identicide.Meharg, Sarah Jane. "Identicide: Precursor to Genocide." ''Centre for Security and Defense Studies Working Paper'' 5 (2006): 1-19.


Implementation

IdenticideMeharg, Sarah Jane. "Post-war reconstruction: humanitarian aid or profit-driven activity?." ''Peace Research'' 35.1 (2003): 65-74. includes willful acts of destruction of the places, symbols, objects and other
cultural property Cultural property does not have a universal definition, but it is commonly considered to be tangible (physical, material) items that are part of the cultural heritage of a group or society, as opposed to less tangible cultural expressions. They i ...
that represents the identity of a people, with the intent to erase the cultural narrative of that people in a particular region over time. Targets are often "symbolic landscapes" that, according to Sarah Jane Meharg, "create a particularity of place, ndalso act as narratives of
collective memory Collective memory refers to the shared pool of memories, knowledge and information of a social group that is significantly associated with the group's identity. The English phrase "collective memory" and the equivalent French phrase "la mémoire c ...
that underpin the cohesion and identity of
groups A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...
."


Examples

The destruction of
National and University Library The National and University Library (french: Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire; abbreviated BNU) is a public library in Strasbourg, France. It is located on Place de la République, the former ''Kaiserplatz'', and faces the ''Palais du ...
of
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
,
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
.{{Cite book, last1=Galgano, first1=Francis, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CRLJBQAAQBAJ&q=identicide&pg=PT12, title=Modern Military Geography, last2=Palka, first2=Eugene J., date=2012-02-06, publisher=Routledge, isbn=978-1-136-91980-0, language=en The destruction of
Stari Most Stari Most ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Stari most, Стари мост, Old Bridge), also known as Mostar Bridge, is a rebuilt 16th-century Ottoman bridge in the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina that crosses the river Neretva and connects the two ...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, Afghanistan Renaming of Mauri place names, New Zealand Renaming of English and French place names in Montreal, Canada


References

Genocide