Leo Kuper
Leo Kuper | |
---|---|
Born | Johannesburg | 24 November 1904
Died | 23 May 1994 Los Angeles | (aged 89)
Alma mater | |
Spouse | Hilda Kuper |
Awards | 1966 Herskovits Prize[1] |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Law, sociology |
Institutions | UCLA, University of Natal |
Leo Kuper (20 November 1908 – 23 May 1994)[2][3] was a South African sociologist specialising in the study of genocide.
Early life and legal career
[edit]Kuper was born to a Lithuanian Jewish family. His siblings included his sister Mary (d. 1948), who in later life directed the Johannesburg Legal Aid Bureau.[4][3]
Kuper trained in law at the University of the Witwatersrand, receiving there his BA and LLB degrees.[3] As a lawyer, he represented African clients in human-rights cases, and also represented one of the country's early non-segregated trade unions.[3] He supported the establishment of South Africa's first legal aid charity.[3]
Wartime service
[edit]Kuper served with the Eighth Army in Kenya, Egypt, and Italy, as an intelligence officer, from 1940 to 1946.[3][1] After the war he organised the National War Memorial Health Foundation, which provided social and medical services for disadvantaged people from all backgrounds.[3][1]
Scholarly and political activities
[edit]In 1947, Kuper went to the University of North Carolina, where he earned an M.A. in sociology.[1] He was subsequently appointed Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Birmingham in England.[1]
At Birmingham, Kuper directed a research project intended to help the city of Coventry recover from the bombing it received during World War II.[1] This project culminated in the publication of Living in Towns (1953).[1] Kuper completed a doctorate in sociology at the University of Birmingham in 1952, and moved to Durban, South Africa, as Professor of Sociology at the University of Natal.[1]
Kuper was an active opponent of apartheid. Under his headship, the Sociology Department at the University of Natal was the only integrated academic department in South Africa.[5] Kuper and his colleague Fatima Meer were subjected to surveillance by the apartheid government, and classes taught in the department were infiltrated by government spies, resulting in a chilling effect.[6]
During his time in Durban, Kuper co-founded the Liberal Party of South Africa,[7][8][9][10] and became chairman of its Natal branch.[3] On 6 December 1956, Kuper and Alan Paton spoke on behalf of the Liberal Party at a fundraising event in Durban in aid of the Treason Trial defendants.[11] They and four other speakers were arrested and charged under a segregationist statute, the Natal Provincial Notice No. 78 of 1933, accused of "holding, or attending, or participating in ... a meeting of natives".[11] Of the ensuing trial, Paton recalled:
I remember only one thing ... I said to [Leo Kuper] that although this was the first time I had sat in the dock, I did not mind it at all. He said to me, with that gentle smile which was one of his great characteristics, "I don't like it at all."[11]
On 1 August 1957, all six defendants were acquitted on appeal.[11]
During the 1960s, Kuper moved to Los Angeles, California, United States, where he took up teaching and researching at UCLA and was appointed professor of sociology.[8] His publications include The Pity of it All, Passive Resistance in South Africa, and The Prevention of Genocide.[12] His book Genocide: Its Political Use in the Twentieth Century (1981) was particularly widely cited.[13]
Kuper was a founding member of the International Council of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide[14] in Jerusalem. In the mid-1980s, he founded International Alert, with the support of Michael Young, Martin Ennals and others.[15][16][17]
Personal life
[edit]In 1936, Kuper married anthropologist Hilda Beemer, with whom he had two daughters:[8][3] the international human rights lawyer Dr Jenny Kuper and the painter and sculptor Mary Kuper.[10]
Works
[edit]- Kuper, Leo (1953). Living in Towns: selected research papers in urban sociology of the Faculty of Commerce and Social Science, University of Birmingham. Cresset Press.
- Passive Resistance in South Africa by Leo Kuper (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1957, 256 p., 4 p. of plates : ill. ; 21 cm).
- Kuper, Leo (1953). The Background to Passive Resistance: South Africa, 1952. British Journal of Sociology.
- Kuper, Leo; Watts, Hilstan; Davies, Ronald (1987). Durban: A Study in Racial Ecology. St. Martin's Press.
- Kuper, Leo (1960). The College Brew: A Satire. Durban: Universal Printing Works.
- Leo Kuper (1965). An African Bourgeoisie: Race, Class, and Politics in South Africa. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Pp. xviii+ 452. 21s. paperback.
- Kuper, Hilda; Kuper, Leo (1965). African Law: Adaptation and Development. University of California Press. GGKEY:JB0L2JNY412.
- Kuper, Leo; Smith, Michael Garfield (1969). Pluralism in Africa. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-01872-3.
- Kuper, Leo (1975). Race, class and power: ideology and revolutionary change in plural societies. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-0-202-36845-0.
- Kuper, Leo (1975). Race, Science and Society. Unesco/Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9780231039086.
- Kuper, Leo (1977). The pity of it all: polarisation of racial and ethnic relations. Duckworth. ISBN 978-0-7156-1114-2.
- Kuper, Leo; Kuper, Hilda (1981). South Africa: Human Rights and Genocide; Biography as Interpretation. Indiana University, African Studies Program. ISBN 978-0-941934-33-6.
- Kuper, Leo (1983). Genocide: Its Political Use in the Twentieth Century. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-03120-1.
- Kuper, Leo (1984). International action against genocide. Minority Rights Group. ISBN 9780946690121.
- Kuper, Leo (1985). The Prevention of Genocide. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-03418-9.
- Cases and Materials on Genocide by Leo Kuper Foundation Staff, Publisher: Routledge (ISBN 9781859419298/1859419291).
- Genocide Reader (Criminology) by Leo Kuper Foundation, Routledge Cavendish, 1 January 2007, 600 pages.
- "Blueprint for Living Together" in Leo Kuper, ed., Living in Towns, London, 1953.
- Kuper, L. (1949). "The South African Native: Caste, Proletariat or Race?". Social Forces. 28 (2): 146–153. doi:10.2307/2572640. ISSN 0037-7732. JSTOR 2572640.
- Kuper, Leo (1950). "Review of 'White Settlers and Native Peoples'". The British Journal of Sociology. 1 (4): 363. doi:10.2307/586900. ISSN 0007-1315. JSTOR 586900.
- Kuper, Leo (1951). "Social Science Research and the Planning of Urban Neighbourhoods". Social Science Research and the Planning of Urban Neighbourhoods. 29: 237–243.
- Kuper, Leo (1953). "The Background to Passive Resistance (South Africa, 1952)". The British Journal of Sociology. 4 (3): 243–256. doi:10.2307/587540. ISSN 0007-1315. JSTOR 587540.
- Kuper, L. (1954). "The Control of Social Change: A South African Experiment". Social Forces. 33 (1): 19–29. doi:10.2307/2573139. ISSN 0037-7732. JSTOR 2573139.
- "Techniques. of Social Control in South Africa" by Leo Kuper, Listener 55, 31 May 1956, pp. 708.
- "Rights and riots in Natal" by Leo Kuper In Africa South, Vol.4, No.2, Jan–Mar 1960, pp. 20–26.
- "The Heightening of Racial Tension" by Leo Kuper, In The Heightening of Racial Tension, Vol.2, 1960, pp. 24–32.
- "Ethnic and Racial Pluralism: Some Aspects of Polarization and Depluralization." In Leo Kuper and MG. Smith, M.G. (Eds) Pluralism in Africa. Berkeley and Los
- "Racialism and Integration in South African Society" by Leo Kuper, In Racialism and Integration in South African Society, Vol.4, 1963, pp. 26–31.
- "The problem of violence in South Africa" by Leo Kuper, in Inquiry (Taylor & Francis), Vol.7 (1–4), 1964, pages 295–303.
- "Book Review: Caneville: The Social Structure of a South African Town. Pierre L. Van Den Berghe, Edna Miller" by Leo Kuper, In American Journal of Sociology, Vol.71 (1), 1965, pp. 115.
- "Neighbour on the Hearth." by Leo Kuper – Environmental Psychology: Man and His Physical Setting, edited by H. M. Proshansky, W. H. Ittelson and L. G. Rivlin, (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970).
- "Continuities and Discontinuities in Race Relations: Evolutionary or Revolutionary Change" by Leo Kuper in Cahiers d'études africaines ( published by EHESS ), Vol. 10, Cahier 39, 1970, pp. 361–383.
- Kuper, Leo (2009). "Theories of Revolution and Race Relations*". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 13 (1): 87–107. doi:10.1017/S0010417500006125. ISSN 0010-4175.
- "African Nationalism in South Africa, 1910–1964" by Leo Kuper in The Oxford History of South Africa, Vol. II, M. Wilson and L. Thompson (eds.), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971, pp. 424–476.
- Kuper, Leo (2009). "Race, Class and Power: Some Comments on Revolutionary Change". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 14 (4): 400–421. doi:10.1017/S0010417500006782. ISSN 0010-4175.
- Kuper, Leo (1975). "Censorship by proxy". Index on Censorship. 4 (3): 48–50. doi:10.1080/03064227508532449. ISSN 0306-4220. S2CID 144663151.
- "Book Review: Ethnicity and Resource Competition in Plural Societies. Leo A. Despres" by Leo Kuper, In American Journal of Sociology, Vol.82 (5), 1977, pp. 1146.
- "Types of Genocide and Mass Murder" by Leo Kuper, In Israel W. Charny (ed.) Toward the understanding and prevention of genocide: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide. Boulder and London: Westview Press, 1984, pages 32–47.
- Kuper, Leo (2009). "The Turkish genocide of Armenians, 1915–1917". In Richard G. Hovannisian (ed.). The Armenian Genocide in Perspective. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-0891-0.
- "The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide.", by Robert Jay Lifton and by Leo Kuper, Political Science Quarterly, Vol.102 (1), March 1987, pp. 175.
- "In the Belly of the Beast: The Modern State as Mass Murderer" by Robin M. Williams, Leo Kuper, in Contemporary Sociology, Vol.16 (4), 1987, pp. 502.
- "Genocide and the Modern Age: Etiology and Case Studies of Mass Death" by Leo Kuper, Isidor Walliman, Michael N. Dobkowski, In Contemporary Sociology, Vol.17 (1), 1988, pp. 24.
- Kuper, Leo (1989). "Biology as Destiny: The Scientific Mystifications of Medical Mass Murder". Contemporary Sociology. 18 (5). Robert N. Proctor (ed.): 753–755. doi:10.2307/2073343. ISSN 1939-8638. JSTOR 2073343.
- "Theological warrants for genocide: Judaism, Islam and Christianity" by Leo Kuper – Terrorism and Political Violence, Volume 2, Issue 3, 1990, pages 351–379.
- "On Jewish Disconnection from Other Genocides." by Leo Kuper – Internet on the Holocaust and Genocide, Issues 49–50, Special Section, 1990, p. 7.
- Revolution and Genocide: On the Origins of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust, 2nd edition by Robert Melson, Leo Kuper (Introduction), Leo Kuper (Foreword by)
- Kuper, L. (1990). "The genocidal state: an overview". State Violence and Ethnicity: 19–51.
- "The Genocidal State: An Overview", by Leo Kuper in Pierre L. van den Berghe, ed., State Violence and Ethnicity (Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado), 1990, pp. 44.
- "The Roots of Evil: The Origins of Genocide and Other Group Violence." by Leo Kuper, Ervin Staub, In Contemporary Sociology, Vol.19 (5), 1990, pp. 683.
- "The Genocidal Mentality: Nazi Holocaust and Nuclear Threat" by Leo Kuper, Robert Jay Lifton, Erik Markusen, In Contemporary Sociology, Vol.20 (2), 1991, pp. 217.
- "Lethal Politics: Soviet Genocide and Mass Murder since 1917" by Leo Kuper, R. J. Rummel, In Contemporary Sociology, Vol.20 (3), 1991, pp. 433.
- "Reflections on the Prevention of Genocide," by Leo Kuper in Helen Fein (Ed.) Genocide Watch. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992, pp. 135–161.
- "Theoretical Issues relating to Genocide: Uses and Abuses" by Leo Kuper in G.J. Andreopoulos (ed.), Genocide: Conceptual and Historical Dimensions, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1994, p. 31-46.
Notes and references
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h "Kuper, Leo. - Social Networks and Archival Context".
- ^ Charny, Israel W. "Professor Leo Kuper." Holocaust & Genocide Stud. 8 (1994): 446.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Kuper, Adam. "Obituary: Leo Kuper". The Independent. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
- ^ Bernstein, Edgar. Union of South Africa (PDF). p. 298. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
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ignored (help) - ^ van den Berghe 1989, pp. 158–159.
- ^ van den Berghe 1989, p. 170.
- ^ Waters, Geoff (2015). "Liberalism interruptus: Leo Kuper and the Durban school of oppositional empirical sociology of the 1950s and 1960s". Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa. 88 (1): 43–61. doi:10.1353/trn.2015.0020. ISSN 1726-1368. S2CID 142756499.
- ^ a b c Leslau, Wolf; Maquet, Jacques; Nixon, Charles (1994). "In Memoriam Hilda Kuper, Anthropology: Los Angeles". University of California. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
- ^ "Hilda Kuper, 1911–92". Africa. 64 (1): 145–149. 2011. doi:10.1017/S0001972000036986. ISSN 0001-9720.
- ^ a b "Hilda Kuper". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/95674. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ a b c d Paton, Alan (1988). Journey Continued: An Autobiography. Oxford University Press. pp. 161–162. ISBN 978-0-19-219237-0.
- ^ Hance 1968, p. 85.
- ^ "Google Scholar".
- ^ Charny, Israel W., ed. (1999). Encyclopedia of Genocide. Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-87436-928-1.
- ^ Galchinsky 2008, p. 99.
- ^ Totten & Jacobs 2013, pp. 273-.
- ^ Totten & Bartrop 2008, p. 131.
- Galchinsky, Michael (2008). Jews and Human Rights: Dancing at Three Weddings. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-7425-5267-8.
- Totten, Samuel; Jacobs, Steven Leonard (2013). Pioneers of Genocide Studies. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-4974-6.
- Totten, Samuel; Bartrop, Paul Robert (2008). Dictionary of Genocide: A-L. Vol. 1: A-L. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-34642-2.
- van den Berghe, Pierre (1989). Stranger in their Midst. University Press of Colorado. ISBN 0870812025.
- "Leo Kuper, 85, Dies; Wrote on Genocide". The New York Times. 29 May 1994. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
- Charny, Israel W. (1994). "In Memoriam: Professor Leo Kuper". Holocaust and Genocide Studies. 8 (3): 446–447. doi:10.1093/hgs/8.3.446. ISSN 8756-6583.
- Hance, William A. (1968). Southern Africa and the United States. New York, Columbia University Press.
External links
[edit]- 1908 births
- 1994 deaths
- 20th-century South African lawyers
- Alumni of the University of Birmingham
- Jewish South African anti-apartheid activists
- Genocide education
- Liberal Party of South Africa politicians
- Writers from Johannesburg
- South African emigrants to the United States
- South African Jews
- South African people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
- Politicians from Johannesburg
- University of California, Los Angeles faculty
- White South African anti-apartheid activists