Dear All, I wanted to draw your attention to the upcoming Call for Papers for a special issue of *Holocaust and Genocide Studies*, “Beyond Cumulative Radicalization? A Comparative Perspective.” I am pasting below the call by two guest editors, Robert Braun and Scott Straus, available also here: https://academic.oup.com/hgs/pages/beyond-cumulative-radicalization-a-comparative-perspective . The deadline for abstract submission is July 1, 2024. Kind regards, Kasia -- *Kasia Nalewajko* Assistant Professor of Political Science Collegio Carlo Alberto ————————— How and why do policies of mass violence and genocide emerge? This special issue aims to build on and challenge an influential model developed in Holocaust Studies, that of “cumulative radicalization,” by placing that model in comparative perspective. Cumulative radicalization is anchored in the idea that, informed by animating but ultimately somewhat vague ideas from the Nazi leadership, sub-national officials interpreted instructions, competed with their peers, and invented policies of violence in the field. It highlights interactions between national decisionmakers and sub-national actors, inquiring whether and how their actions mutually constitute one another and drive escalation of policies of violence. Recent advances in Holocaust studies have driven home the point that cumulative radicalization is context specific in at least two ways. First, whether cumulative radicalization manifests itself or not differs from one place to the other. Second, it might take a wide range of different forms involving a wide range of different local actors. We invite papers that address the question of whether and how models of “cumulative radicalization” take place in different cases of genocide and mass violence. Papers should draw on detailed knowledge of cases to address four main questions: 1. Under what circumstances do policies escalate in the cases of mass violence you study? 2. What is the interaction between central-level and local-level actors in the emergence of policies of mass violence in the cases that you study? And who are these actors? Are the sub-national actors indeed local, or peripheral, or are they subordinate agents of national actors? 3. Do you see evidence for cumulative radicalization in the cases you study? How would you conceptualize radicalization in your case? 4. To draw inspiration, the guest editors have developed four models of radicalization in an accompanying memo. Do these four models work in explaining the radicalization violence in the cases you know well? Is there a different model that you see? The models need not be mutually exclusive. Abstracts should be sent to guest editors, Robert Braun ( robert.braun@berkeley.edu) and Scott Straus (sstraus@berkeley.edu), by July 1, 2024, with complete drafts expected by October 1, 2024.