The Order of Genocide

Scholarship on the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has been extensive. Nevertheless, it is important that such a catastrophe be analysed in depth so that lessons can be learnt. Straus's text investigates a facet of the genocide that has already been covered in the literature, but his is a new perspective. His key question is ‘what drove tens of thousands of ordinary Rwandans to commit genocide?’ (p. 2). He contends that, by focusing on the ‘local dynamics’, his book offers a perspective that is distinct from others. The book has three stated goals: first, to examine the genocide's local dynamics; second, to evaluate the explanations; and, finally, to develop a theory of the Rwandan genocide. These aims are pursued by analysing the results of extensive field research, which includes rich in-depth interviews with convicted and imprisoned génocidaires who had pleaded guilty; and a micro-comparative study of genocide in five locations. Before the interviews were conducted, the quantifiable part of this data was treated to rigorous statistical analysis to identify correlations and patterns.

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