Temptations in Ruin examines the political-economic afterlife of the Armenian
genocide in present-day Turkey, focusing on the region of Mus (Moush).
Anthropologist Alice von Bieberstein explores how the 1915 genocide and
dispossession of Armenians shaped property regimes, citizenship, and economic logics that continue to reverberate today.
To tell this history, von Bieberstein introduces the concept of "sovereign accumulation" to describe the ways in which the state and other actors mobilize histories of sovereign violence for present-day economic benefit. This framework illuminates the legacy of violence and resource extraction present in such practices as urban renewal projects, treasure hunting for "Armenian gold," and heritage tourism and identifies these practices' very existence as manifestations of the economic aftermath of the genocide. Highlighting the enduring resonance of genocide, von Bieberstein enhances our understanding of political violence's long-term impacts on society and on the economy.