--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Can postmodernism hold the perpetrators…" description: "\"Can postmodernism hold the perpetrators of genocide accountable?\" — Catharine MacKinnon" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/catharine-mackinnon-18414_genocide_can-postmodernism-hold-the-perpetrators_2515844.jpg" --- # Can postmodernism hold the perpetrators of genocide… ![“Can postmodernism hold the perpetrators of genocide accountable?” quote by Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/catharine-mackinnon-18414_genocide_can-postmodernism-hold-the-perpetrators_2515844.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/catharine-mackinnon-18414_genocide_can-postmodernism-hold-the-perpetrators_2515844.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/catharine-mackinnon-18414_genocide_can-postmodernism-hold-the-perpetrators_2515844.jpg) > “Can postmodernism hold the perpetrators of genocide accountable?” [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Postmodern theory questions complicate assigning blame because it questions universal narratives and objective truth. **In simple terms:** Postmodernism makes accountability hard. Key Takeaway Recognize limits of theory in justice. Themes philosophy justice ethics Mood reflective critical Type academic philosophical When to use this quote - legal trials - truth commissions - historical research - education programs Key Concepts relativism power structures truth accountability Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance critical theory with concrete justice? - What mechanisms ensure accountability beyond discourse? A Different Perspective Theoretical abstraction may ignore victims' lived realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Genocide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genocide/) [Genocide Accountable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genocide-accountable-1202049/) [Perpetrators](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perpetrators/) [Perpetrators Genocide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perpetrators-genocide-1202050/) [Postmodernism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/postmodernism/) [Postmodernism Hold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/postmodernism-hold-1202051/) ## Related quotes > [“She developed a kind of disdain for her only sibling usually reserved for despotic political regimes and perpetrators of genocide.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisa-albert/she-developed-a-kind-of-disdain-for-her-only-sibling-usually-reserved/) [Elisa Albert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisa-albert/) > [“ORIGIN OF CONCENTRATION CAMPS When Namibia won its independence in 1990, the main avenue of the capital city still bore the name Göring. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/origin-of-concentration-camps-when-namibia-won-its-independence-in/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [“The perpetrators of genocides are usually men of the herd, men who follow orders without questioning them. Rwanda was no exception.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rucyahana/the-perpetrators-of-genocides-are-usually-men-of-the-herd-men-who/) [John Rucyahana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rucyahana/) > [The horror of the Holocaust is not that it deviated from human norms; the horror is that it didn't. What happened may happen again,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-bauer/the-horror-of-the-holocaust-is-not-that-it-deviated-from-human-norms/) [Yehuda Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-bauer/) > [In the Goldstone Report, Israeli perpetrators of possible crimes against humanity were made subject to prosecution and punishment, although the geopolitical leverage of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-a-falk/in-the-goldstone-report-israeli-perpetrators-of-possible-crimes/) [Richard A. Falk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-a-falk/) > [One reason that I embarked on a study of Nazi doctors was that in this personal journey, I had the feeling increasingly that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jay-lifton/one-reason-that-i-embarked-on-a-study-of-nazi-doctors-was-that-in/) [Robert Jay Lifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jay-lifton/) > [Postmodernism is an academic theory, originating in academia with an academic elite, not in the world of women and men, where feminist theory is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/postmodernism-is-an-academic-theory-originating-in-academia-with-an/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [What postmodernism gives us instead is a multicultural defense for male violence - a defense for it wherever it is, which in effect is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/what-postmodernism-gives-us-instead-is-a-multicultural-defense-for/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [The Children's Safety Act will help protect children from the perpetrators of these vile crimes by strengthening notification requirements for sex offenders and increasing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-t-walsh/the-children-s-safety-act-will-help-protect-children-from-the/) [James T. Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-t-walsh/) > [Food Throwers: Begun usually by estranged couples, once this victual flinging starts, everyone will do it...Should your dinner party have become an out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-p-donleavy-2/food-throwers-begun-usually-by-estranged-couples-once-this-victual/) [J. P. Donleavy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-p-donleavy-2/) > [God's grace and forgiveness, while free to the recipient, are always costly for the giver. From the earliest parts of the Bible, it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/god-s-grace-and-forgiveness-while-free-to-the-recipient-are-always/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [There is only one perpetrator of evil on the planet: human unconsciousness. That realization is true forgiveness. With forgiveness, your victim identity dissolves, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/there-is-only-one-perpetrator-of-evil-on-the-planet-human/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Simply coming to the perpetrator and delivering the message is Nozick's definition of revenge. And in that sense, Adi is exacting revenge. When people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errol-morris/simply-coming-to-the-perpetrator-and-delivering-the-message-is-nozick/) [Errol Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errol-morris/) > [Sexual assault not a women's issue, this is a peace and security issue. And we have to make sure that we go after the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-wallstrom/sexual-assault-not-a-women-s-issue-this-is-a-peace-and-security-issue/) [Margot Wallstrom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-wallstrom/) > [But ice-crunching and loud gum-chewing, together with drumming on tables, and whistling the same tune 70 times in succession, because they indicate an indifference…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/but-ice-crunching-and-loud-gum-chewing-together-with-drumming-on/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) ## More by Catharine MacKinnon > [Power is being able to say complete and utter nonsense and have it be believed, powerlessness is where no matter how much cogent evidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/power-is-being-able-to-say-complete-and-utter-nonsense-and-have-it-be/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [What postmodernism gives us instead is a multicultural defense for male violence - a defense for it wherever it is, which in effect is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/what-postmodernism-gives-us-instead-is-a-multicultural-defense-for/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [You grow up with your father holding you down and covering your mouth so another man can make a horrible searing pain between your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/you-grow-up-with-your-father-holding-you-down-and-covering-your-mouth/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [Feminism, Socialism, and Communism are one in the same, and Socialist/Communist government is the goal of feminism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/feminism-socialism-and-communism-are-one-in-the-same-and-socialist/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [Empirically, all pornography is made under conditions of inequality based on sex, overwhelmingly by poor, desperate, homeless, pimped women who were sexually abused as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/empirically-all-pornography-is-made-under-conditions-of-inequality/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [So the idea that there is nothing essential, in the sense that there are no human universals, is dogma. Ask most anyone who is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/so-the-idea-that-there-is-nothing-essential-in-the-sense-that-there/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [Women and men are divided by gender, made into the sexes as we know them, by the social requirements of heterosexuality, which institutionalizes male…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/women-and-men-are-divided-by-gender-made-into-the-sexes-as-we-know/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [“Division may be rational or irrational. Dominance either seems or is justified. Difference is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/division-may-be-rational-or-irrational-dominance-either-seems-or-is/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [Stopped as attribute of a person, sex inequality takes the form of gender; moving as a relation between people, it takes the form of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/stopped-as-attribute-of-a-person-sex-inequality-takes-the-form-of/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [Postmodernism is an academic theory, originating in academia with an academic elite, not in the world of women and men, where feminist theory is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/postmodernism-is-an-academic-theory-originating-in-academia-with-an/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [In my opinion, no feminism worthy of the name is not methodologically post-marxist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/in-my-opinion-no-feminism-worthy-of-the-name-is-not-methodologically/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [If you want to know who is being hurt in this society, go see what is being done and to whom in pornography and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/if-you-want-to-know-who-is-being-hurt-in-this-society-go-see-what-is/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [To be a prisoner means to be defined as a member of a group for whom the rules of what can be done to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/to-be-a-prisoner-means-to-be-defined-as-a-member-of-a-group-for-whom/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [The arena of logic was made by men for men; it was expressly founded on the exclusion of what is not male, as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/the-arena-of-logic-was-made-by-men-for-men-it-was-expressly-founded/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [Instead of being lionized and admired for her genius, instead of being able to earn a decent living as a writer, Andrea Dworkin was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/instead-of-being-lionized-and-admired-for-her-genius-instead-of-being/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) [Explore all 35 Catharine MacKinnon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) ## More Genocide quotes > [Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/here-s-the-reality-the-image-of-a-white-jesus-has-been-used-to/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [“There is no time for patience - there is no time for diplomacy - there is no time for policies, legislations and meaningless paperwork.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/there-is-no-time-for-patience-there-is-no-time-for-diplomacy-there-is/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. ... We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/our-nation-was-born-in-genocide-when-it-embraced-the-doctrine-that/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [I find in working always the disturbing intrusion of elements not a part of my most interested vision, and the inevitable obliteration and replacement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hopper/i-find-in-working-always-the-disturbing-intrusion-of-elements-not-a/) [Edward Hopper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hopper/) > [“We are preaching hope, standing on the bones of the past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rucyahana/we-are-preaching-hope-standing-on-the-bones-of-the-past/) [John Rucyahana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rucyahana/) > [If people in Indonesia look 'different', they are afraid. Racist insults fly if someone does not look like part of the majority. Indonesia is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/if-people-in-indonesia-look-different-they-are-afraid-racist-insults/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [Except for the scale of the operation, there was nothing unusual about Hitler's massacre of the Jews. Genocide's an old tradition, as human as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/except-for-the-scale-of-the-operation-there-was-nothing-unusual-about/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“People talk about history and things like slavery, genocide, and religious persecution as horrors that happened in the past because we were ignorant. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-matthew-nespoli/people-talk-about-history-and-things-like-slavery-genocide-and/) [J. Matthew Nespoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-matthew-nespoli/) > [The situation in Europe is much more advanced, in terms of pro-genocide trends, than in the United States, yet. But we're going very rapidly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-larouche/the-situation-in-europe-is-much-more-advanced-in-terms-of-pro/) [Lyndon LaRouche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-larouche/) > [There are something like 300 anti-genocide chapters on college campuses around the country. It's bigger than the anti-apartheid movement. There are something like 500…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-power/there-are-something-like-300-anti-genocide-chapters-on-college/) [Samantha Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-power/) > [American coffee can be a pale solution served at a temperature of 100 degrees centigrade in plastic thermos cups, usually obligatory in railroad stations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/american-coffee-can-be-a-pale-solution-served-at-a-temperature-of-100/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“Even more horrifying was the “Rwandan Genocide” that witnessed the mass slaughter of nearly one million Rwandan Tutsis in only 100 days, by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-grumley/even-more-horrifying-was-the-rwandan-genocide-that-witnessed-the-mass/) [Michael C. Grumley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-grumley/) > [“FLIES IN DISGUISE Tell me, Have you Really seen Flies in a child's eyes Or heard their hungry cries In the middle Of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/flies-in-disguise-tell-me-have-you-really-seen-flies-in-a-child-s/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [“The human race comes from Africa, but inhumanity originated in Europe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-human-race-comes-from-africa-but-inhumanity-originated-in-europe/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“Like Leontius, the young Athenian in Plato, I presume that you are reading this because you desire a closer look, and that you, too,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-gourevitch/like-leontius-the-young-athenian-in-plato-i-presume-that-you-are/) [Philip Gourevitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-gourevitch/) [Browse all 620 Genocide quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genocide/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Can postmodernism hold the perpetrators of genocide accountable?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Catharine MacKinnon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/can-postmodernism-hold-the-perpetrators-of-genocide-accountable/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Genocide" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/can-postmodernism-hold-the-perpetrators-of-genocide-accountable/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/catharine-mackinnon-18414_genocide_can-postmodernism-hold-the-perpetrators_2515844.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/catharine-mackinnon-18414_genocide_can-postmodernism-hold-the-perpetrators_2515844.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/catharine-mackinnon-18414_genocide_can-postmodernism-hold-the-perpetrators_2515844.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Can postmodernism hold the perpetrators of genocide accountable?” — Catharine MacKinnon", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Catharine MacKinnon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Can postmodernism hold the perpetrators of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/can-postmodernism-hold-the-perpetrators-of-genocide-accountable/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/can-postmodernism-hold-the-perpetrators-of-genocide-accountable/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```