Post-genocide identity politics in Rwanda

Bibliographic Data

ID6255460
AuthorsHelen Hintjens (0000-0002-7639-8380, Institute of Social Studies, The Netherlands,, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume8
Issue1
Pages5-41
Publication date2008-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnicities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1468-7968 • E-ISSN: 1741-2706
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1468796807087017
OpenAlexW2048811320
LanguageEN
Citations received63
References cited24

When the journal Ethnicities was launched in 2001, the first issue included an article by this author, which examined the politics of `race' and identity as central ingredients in the Rwanda genocide of 1994. This current article considers how political identities have been reconstructed since the genocide, especially from above. History, law and politics are examined, as central instruments in government efforts to construct a new Rwandan society and ensure that genocide will `never again' be possible. Evidence suggests that inequalities in income and land distribution have grown rapidly since 1994. At the same time, the poor and marginalized often find it difficult to openly express their views, including their political identities outside of officially circumscribed spaces and categories. Debates continue around numbers of victims and perpetrators, and new inter-elite conflicts have emerged along language lines. The article shows how race categories have been replaced with new terms, which arise from a particular reading of the genocide. A new foundation myth for Rwanda, a form of diasporic victim nationalism, is also briefly explored. Re-labelling Rwandans from above, the state continues to exercise tight control over the public expression of political identities. Open political debate is very difficult; the government frequently feels it is being attacked, and accuses critics of divisionism or harbouring a genocide mentality. If more inclusive forms of Rwandan-ness are to emerge in future, state controls will need to be relaxed, so that more complex forms of political identities can finally emerge

Aesthetics · Criminology · Elite · Genocide · Identity (music · Identity politics · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Cambodian History and Society · Gender Studies · Law · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts · Political Conflict and Governance

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access