Classicide is a concept proposed by sociologistMichael Mann to describe the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of asocial class throughpersecution andviolence.[1][2] Although it was first used by physician andanti-communist activistFred Schwarz in 1972,[3]classicide was popularized by Mann as a term that is similar to but distinct fromgenocide[2] because it means the "intended mass killing of entire social classes."[4] Classicide is considered a form of "premeditatedmass killing", which is narrower than genocide, because the target of a classicide is a part of a population which is defined by itssocial status, and classicide is also considered broader thanpoliticide because the group which is targeted for classicide is killed without any concern for its political activities.[5]
Classicide was first used by Schwarz in his 1972 bookThe Three Faces of Revolution.[3] It was later used by Mann as a well-defined term.[6] Since then,classicide has been used by somesociologists, such as Mann[1] andMartin Shaw,[2] to describe the unique forms ofgenocide which pertain to the annihilation of a class throughmurder or displacement and the destruction of thebourgeoisie to form an equalproletariat, although Mann does not usegenocide in reference to examples underCommunist states.[6]
Political scientistChristophe Jaffrelot and historianJacques Sémelin write that "Mann thus establishes a sort of parallel betweenracial enemies andclass enemies, thereby contributing to the debates on comparisons betweenNazism andcommunism. This theory has also been developed by someFrench historians such asStéphane Courtois andJean-Louis Margolin inThe Black Book of Communism: they view class genocide as the equivalent to racial genocide. However, Mann refuses to use the term 'genocide' to describe the crimes which were committed under communism. He prefers to use the terms 'fratricide' and 'classicide', a word which he coined in reference to the intentional mass killings of entire social classes."[6]
According to Mann, examples of classicide include thedekulakization policy during the forcedcollectivization in the Soviet Union under theStalin era of the better off peasants, who were labelled askulaks and identified as "class enemies" by theSoviet regime,[7] and theCambodian genocide by theKhmer Rouge regime inDemocratic Kampuchea,[8] before being stopped byVietnam.[9] Mann said they were a perversion ofsocialist theories ofdemocracy in the same sense asethnic cleansing is a perversion ofnationalist theory of democracy.[10]
Human rights activistHarry Wu has identified the killings which were carried out during theChinese Land Reform under the leadership ofMao Zedong as classicide. Wu writes that "in order to consolidate his power, Mao Zedong implemented a nation-wide ideology to undermine those who previously held power."[11] According to Wu, this ideology included dividing people into five class categories depending on their possession of land, capital, property, and income. The five categories were the landlord class, the rich peasant class, the middle peasant class, and the poor worker and peasant classes. Those in the lower classes were "praised for their humble way of life and work ethic", while the landlords and the wealthy were demonized and persecuted. Their property was seized, and they were sent to do hard manual labor in the countryside where many of them were killed. Wu writes that "according to research, in 1949 there were around 10 to 15 million members of the landlord and rich peasant classes nationwide. By the end of the 1970s, when the Cultural Revolution had ended, only 10 to 15 percent of them remained alive."[11]
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