Research Topics
Genocide as a State Policy
The IDG's main research focus is on individual incidents of state violence and genocide, including ongoing political events. The research topic »Genocide as a state policy« reflects the specific approach of the IDG in genocide research.
Knowledge, Ideology, Politics
The main theme "knowledge, ideology, politics" complements the IDG's approach to genocide research with questions of social knowledge. Knowledge-based research is a current, polycontextural research area, which has also become increasingly important in the IDG, as it allows us to recognize the different social, political and cultural connections of political ideologemes.
Minorities: History, Rights, Social Places
The IDG's approach to genocide research has for years also included questions on the possibilities of early detection and intervention in the event of imminent persecution and systematic violence. These aspects, as well as studies on the historical self-understanding and the international rights of minorities, are at the crossroads of genocide research and diaspora research. In particular, the intensive work on the concept and thinking of diaspora is an example of research that combines historical workings and the most up-to-date challenges, thereby characterizing the IDG's contribution to models of collective and individual identifications.
Memory, Narratives, Intergenerational Consequences
Genocide causes consequences that can be felt over generations. The IDG asks for the legacy of persecution, the social processing of losses and the figures and narratives of memory.
Loss, Trauma, Transmission
Since the foundation of the IDG, our work has been determined by the autobiographical reminiscences of survivors of the genocide against the Armenians and the Holocaust. From the outset, the IDG's research has integrated considerations about the importance of psychotraumatic consequences in old age. Another problem that is currently being addressed concerns the future of autobiographical video material after the witnesses themselves died.
