Yehuda Bauer, the Concepts of Holocaust and Genocide, and the Issue of Settler Colonialism

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines Yehuda Bauer's treatment of the concepts of Holocaust and genocide as well as Raphael Lemkin's understanding of the relationship between genocide and settler colonialism. “Intent” has been central to the concept of genocide (both in Lemkin's definition and in the UN Convention) but difficult to locate and identify in the historical practice of settler colonialism, despite the destruction of groups as such that the latter has caused. This article argues for two concepts of genocide: systematic and systemic. The former, based on the Holocaust paradigm, focuses on intent, while the latter, based on settler colonialism, focuses on outcome.