War in Iraq: Is it Sociocide?
War in Iraq: Is it Sociocide?

Summary/Abstract: The military occupancy of Iraq and its violence have left a trail of social and moral resentment in the eyes of Iraqis and the observing world. Has the society of Iraq been fatally wounded? Today, no sense of legitimacy sustains Iraq as a state; no sovereignty controls the people within the country. This study introduces and develops the concept of “sociocide” in order to account for why the current social system in Iraq cannot establish social order. Sociocide is the killing of the social within a society; it encompasses matters pertaining to society itself, e.g., group solidarity, collective identities, state institutions, and the moral conscience of the individual when taking the role of not only the other but, more importantly, the generalized other. Since sociocide may not describe something that exists empirically, this study develops the notion as a Weberian ideal type. While we are skeptical as to whether sociocide has truly taken place, we use the concept to describe the war in Iraq and explain the significance of its social character. For empirical evidence, the paper focuses on the inability of families in Iraq to bury lost family members and analyzes the significance of this deprivation.

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