In this highly controversial and original work, Damien Short systematically rethinks how genocide is and should be defined.Rather than focusing solely on a narrow conception of genocide as direct mass-killing, through close empirical analysis of a number of under-discussed case studies including Palestine, Sri Lanka, Australia and Alberta, Canada the book reveals the key role played by settler colonialism, capitalism, finite resources and the ecological crisis in driving genocidal social death on a global scale.

Damien Short is a reader in human rights at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. He is director of the school's Human Rights Consortium and Extreme Energy Initiative and editor in chief of theInternational Journal of Human Rights.

Introduction1. Definitional Conundrums: A Sociological Approach to Genocide2. The GenocideEcocide Nexus3. Palestine4. Sri Lanka5. Australia6. Tar Sands and the Indigenous Peoples of Northern Alberta7. Looking to the Future: Where to From Here?Conclusion