Literary award granted to political science professor

Scott Straus, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, recently received an “Award for Excellence” in political science and government by the Professional and Scholarly Publishing division of the Association of American Publishers.

The book that received the award, “The Order of Genocide: Race, Power and War in Rwanda,” is about the Rwandan genocide in 1994 and was published by Cornell University Press. Straus wrote the book based on his doctoral research in Rwanda and after being stationed in East Africa as a journalist for several years.

Through interviews with perpetrators and survivors, Straus was able to construct a paradigm explaining the genocide and describing the likelihood of future high-risk conflicts. His writings detail the factors that drive mass violence, including the ethnicity of the perpetrators and the victims; insecurity in civil war; coercive state pressure; and geography and population density, which can limit the ability of the victims to escape the conflict.

The Association of American Publishers is the United States book publishing industry’s national trade association and includes more than 300 members. Materials published by association members range from educational materials for elementary, secondary, postsecondary and professional markets to scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and services. This year’s 12-member panel selected winners in more than 30 different categories covering an array of academic disciplines.