Accounting For Horror: Post-Genocide Debates in RwandaThe 1994 Rwandan genocide was a monumental atrocity in which at least 500,000 Tutsi and tens of thousands of Hutu were murdered in less than four months. Since 1994, members of the Rwandan political class who recognise those events as genocide have struggled to account for it and bring coherence to what is often perceived as irrational, primordial savagery.Most people agree on the factors that contributed to the genocide -- colonialism, ethnicity, the struggle to control the state. However, many still disagree over the way these factors evolved, and the relationship between them. This continuing disagreemnt raises questions about how we come to understand historical events -- understandings that underpin the possibility of sustainable peace.Drawing on extensive research among Rwandese in Rwanda and Europe, and on his work with a conflict resolution NGO in post-genocide Rwanda, Nigel Eltringham argues that conventional modes of historical representation are inadequate in a case like Rwanda. Single, absolutist narratives and representations of genocide actually reinforce the modes of thinking that fuelled the genocide in the first place. Eltringham maintains that if we are to understand the genocide, we must explore the relationship between multiple explanations of what happened and interrogate how -- and why -- different groups within Rwandan society talk about the genocide in different ways. |
Contents
The precursor debate | 34 |
The comparative debate | 51 |
Debating collective guilt | 69 |
Copyright | |
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AFDL April argued Arusha Arusha Accords attack Banyamulenge BBTG Belgian Belgium Bertrand Burundi camps cent civilians colonial committed conflict crimes against humanity culture December Eastern Zaïre ethnic group events of 1959 exile February Former Rwandan genocidal propaganda Habyarimana historian historical narratives Holocaust HRW & FIDH Human Rights Watch humanitarian law Hutu Hutu and Tutsi Hutu moderate ibid ibyitso ICTR ID cards identity interahamwe interpretation interviews investigation inyenzi IRIN July June Kagame Kangura Kayibanda Kigali killed Kinyarwanda Kivu Lemarchand 1970a March MDR-Parmehutu Minister MRND(D Mugunga mwami National Newbury November Nsengiyaremye October official Parmehutu Paul Kagame Pères Blancs perpetrators political population President Prunier racial recognise responsible Reyntjens 1985 RPA soldiers Rwandan genocide Rwandan government Rwandan NGO worker Rwandan society Rwandese social distinction South Kivu targeted term Hutu Tribunal Tutsi Tutsi élite Twagiramungu UNAR UNGC UNHCR UNSC UNSG victims violations violence Zaïrian