Why labels for Viking population destruction remain contested

Would harrying be a better term for the local destruction being attributed to Vikings?

It is considered a possible alternative, but its associations are expected to reopen the same argument, so no unambiguous label is agreed.

Dr. Clarke describes the violence under discussion as varying from one locality to another and therefore hesitates over the term genocide, which he associates with systematic destruction across a wider area. A participant suggests harrying as an alternative. That term also receives a reservation because its associations would return the argument to the same genocide debate. The exchange leaves the terminology unsettled rather than establishing either label as a conclusive description.