“I am Rwandan”: unity and reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda

Blackie, Laura E.R.; Hitchcott, Nicki

Abstract

Drawing on a corpus of ten oral interviews with survivors and perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, we examine how the government’s policy of unity and reconciliation has shaped post-genocide identities and intergroup relations in local Rwandan communities. By focusing on the relationships between individuals and the national post-genocide narrative, we show how the socio-political context in Rwanda influences how people locate themselves and how they ascribe rights and duties to and in relation to others. Specifically, we use positioning theory as an interpretive lens to argue that individuals view adherence to the government’s post-genocide narrative of unity and reconciliation as a moral duty, which is vital to continued political stability and economic development in Rwanda. Our discussion focuses on explaining how the social positioning of the national post-genocide narrative may function to reinforce the ethnic tensions the government has pledged to eradicate.

Citation

Blackie, L. E., & Hitchcott, N. (2018). “I am Rwandan”: unity and reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda. Genocide Studies and Prevention, 12(1), https://doi.org/10.5038/1911-9933.12.1.1480

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 10, 2017
• Publication Date: Apr 30, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jan 23, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 30, 2018
• Journal: Genocide Studies and Prevention
• Print ISSN: 1911-0359
• Electronic ISSN: 1911-9933
• Publisher: International Association of Genocide Scholars
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 1
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5038/1911-9933.12.1.1480
• Keywords: Rwanda; Genocide against the Tutsi; Unity and reconciliation; Positioning; Theory; ndi umunyarwanda
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/929353
• Publisher URL: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/gsp/vol12/iss1/5/
• Contract Date: Jan 23, 2018