ABSTRACT
The law of genocide was forged in the context of colonial hegemony. Colonial logics are embedded in the genocide concept and shape thinking related to its key terms: groups, destruction, and intent. The colonization of genocide has historically impeded the study and recognition of colonial genocides. This is particularly evident in the exclusion of cultural techniques of genocide from genocide law and scholarship. This chapter interrogates the political origins of the genocide concept as well as the dominant uses of the term in contemporary criminology. Through this critique, the possibility of an unsettled and potentially decolonizing criminology of genocide is explored.
