An Obituary Appreciation of Irving Louis Horowitz
Samuel Totten

Issue 10, Spring 2012

G P N O R I G I N A L

Renowned sociologist, prolific scholar/author, noted publisher Irving Louis Horowitz (1929-2012) passed from this world in April 2012. The author of many notable works (please see list of his major works), Horowitz died on, March 21, 2012, following an emergency heart surgery in February.

Horowitz was the Hannah Arendt Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Political Science at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. He lectured on genocide at universities and other venues across the globe. He was also the founder and director of Transaction Publishers, a major and respected social science press.

Among some of the more than 25 books he published were: The Decomposition of Sociology; Behemoth: Main Currents in the History and Theory of Political Sociology; Genocide: State Power and Mass Murder; and Taking Lives: Genocide and State Power.

Many of his works received high praise from both noted scholars and highly respected journals. Such acclaim is ample testimony to his limber mind, fearlessness in taking on positions that were original and/or not popular but well argued.

For example, writing about Horowitz' The Decomposition of Sociology, the American Spectator wrote: "Horowitz is passionately and persuasively critical of the way sociology has become enmeshed in the politics of advocacy. His solution to The Decomposition of Sociology is in the tradition of John Dewey and Sidney Hook, to reengage the discipline whereby the individual researcher's passions are contained by continually testing propositions against the best available evidence."

As an author of early works on genocide theory, he, along with Leo Kuper and Israel W. Charny, inadvertent though it may have been on Irving's part, helped lead the way towards the establishment of the incipient field of genocide studies. About genocide, Horowitz wrote: "First comes the act and then comes the word: first [the crime of] genocide is committed and then the language emerges to describe a phenomenon."

In Taking Lives: Genocide and State Power, Horowitz essentially argued that genocide constituted a special type of mass destruction with the imprimatur of the state apparatus. In that regard, the book examines the state's propensity for evil. He basically argues that genocide constituted "the defining element in the political sociology of our time."

As mentioned above, in addition to being a prolific author, Horowitz founded and then served as the Chairman of the Board and Editorial of Transaction Publishers. In the aforementioned roles, Horowitz served as a major booster of the incipient field of genocide studies. Indeed, as far as many genocide scholars are concerned, one of Horowitz' major contributions to the field of genocide studies was his foresight and willingness to publish work after work on various facets of genocide. Possibly to a greater extent than any other publishing house the world over, Transactions Publishers had remarkably close contact with leading genocide figures and was extremely supportive of their work. Over the years, Horowitz published the works of such scholars as Taner Ackam, Yair Auron, Israel W. Charny, Vahakn Dadrian, Jacques Derogy, Richard Hovannisian, Ben Kiernan, and Samuel Totten, among others.

Those of us who knew and/or published with Horowitz' Transaction Publishers knew him as an individual/publisher who could be, and often was, incredibly supportive and open to publishing unique, important and often extremely lengthy works on genocide. If he believed in a project, he was rarely concerned with length: his primary concern was that the book offer a fresh, and hopefully, significant perspective. At one and the same time, few could be as cantankerous as Irving. The stories of his battles, verbal and written exchanges are legion. Often, though, not always, once the dust had settled, he could and would continue to work with an author if he felt the author had something worthy of publication. In other cases, sadly, he made enemies for life.

Speaking of words, Horowitz' personal letters (typed and sent through the U.S. mail) were also legendary. To receive a letter from Horowitz was special as it was personal written with a flourish, and always bared that unique Horowitz voice. That is, Irving's voice always came through the print; indeed, one felt as if he/she were actually hearing Irving's voice. The very fact of his continuing to write and send letters to his authors and friends in the age of the internet and email was undoubtedly "old school," and that made the letters from him just that more special - and appreciated.

Friends and colleagues also acknowledged Horowitz as a unique person, exceptional scholar, and an important publisher. For example, Gerard Libaridian, Alex Manoogian Chair in Armenian History at the University of Michigan, wrote: "Irving had faith in the value and in the power of the word but he also respected its use. We will miss his intellectual vigor, his unrelenting struggle for the respect of human life, his respect for knowledge, and his scholarly discipline and, above all, his rare ability to create a world that integrates these values."

For a fascinating account of Horowitz' life, one should read his autobiography (which he referred to as a "sociological biography"), Daydreams and Nightmares: Reflections on a Harlem Childhood, for which. Horowitz was awarded the National Jewish Book Award. Horowitz' personal and professional story also appeared in Samuel Totten's and Steven Jacobs' Pioneers of Genocide Studies (Transaction Publishers, 2001).

Samuel Totten is an independent researcher, recently retired from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He served as one of the 24 investigators with the U.S. Atrocities Documentation Project in eastern Chad. His most recent book is "An Oral and Documentary History of the Darfur Genocide" (Praeger Security International, 2010). He was last in the Nuba Mountains in January 2011 conducting research for a new book, Genocide by Attrition in the Nuba Mountains. Totten is a co-editor of the journal of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), "Genocide Studies and Prevention," and among his many works he co-edited the outstanding two-volume "Dictionary of Genocide."

Tags: Genocide education | Genocide studies | Horowitz Irving Louis | Publications about Holocaust and genocide

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An Obituary Appreciation of Irving Louis HorowitzSamuel Totten

An Obituary Appreciation of Irving Louis Horowitz
Samuel Totten