Knowing about Genocide

"Savelsberg’s sociological analysis of the knowledge about the Armenian genocide is an important contribution to the fields of sociology, law, political science, and history. . . . His book enhances our understanding of how knowledge about mass crimes is shaped, disseminated, sedimented, denied, and acknowledged by contending parties."

— Critical Inquiry

"In 2021, as we witness the denial of racism, life-threatening viruses, and systemic violence, Savelsberg’s analysis of the epistemic debates surrounding the Armenian Genocide shows us a pathway forward where social actors mobilize against those in power to create new public repertoires of knowledge."

— Social Forces

"Knowing about Genocide impressively manages to pin down the sociology of Armenian genocide knowledge while simultaneously overflowing its specificity. . . . The book is best suited for students or scholars in the fields of memory studies, sociology, genocide studies, anthropology, and history who seek to contextualize the ways in which memory of the past is processed and honed in service of contemporary ethnic and national interests."

— Past Tense Graduate Review of History

"One would hope. . . that the successful emergence of epistemic knowledge that [Savelsberg] describes so well over the past century will find more adequate institutional expression to interrupt the massive violence and promise at least some measure of protection for the innocent. The sociology of knowledge has helped set an agenda."

— American Journal of Sociology