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8 - Memory, identity, and community in Rwanda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2010

Timothy Longman
Affiliation:
Associate Professor of Political Science and African Studies, Vassar College; Research Fellow of the Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Théonèste Rutagengwa
Affiliation:
National Coordinator for the Center for Non-Violent Communication, Kigali, Rwanda
Eric Stover
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
Harvey M. Weinstein
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
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Summary

Commemoration is necessary, and the work of memory is indispensable.

Hutu Man, Butare, Rwanda September 8, 2001

Ahabaye inkovu hadasubirana.

A wound does not heal completely.

Rwandan proverb

Since taking power in July 1994, the Rwandan government has undertaken an ambitious social engineering program intended to prevent future ethnic violence in the country. Believing that the 1994 genocide grew out of problems rooted deeply in Rwandan culture, the government has implemented a series of policies to foster a unified national identity, encourage respect for rule of law, create a socially responsible citizenry, and promote a democratic political culture. The government has used trials, public addresses, commemorations and memorialization, school programs, re-education camps, and new national symbols to shape the collective memory of Rwandan history. Through these policies, the regime hopes to transform how Rwandans understand their social identities and replace them with a unified national identity. At the same time that the government is seeking to force the population to come to terms with the 1994 genocide, it has dismissed accusations of its own engagement in war crimes and human rights abuses, leading to a perception of a double standard that has created political tensions and further divided the country. Leaders of the government, which is dominated by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), are driven by a strong sense of their own moral rectitude and right to rule, and a lingering distrust of the population.

Type
Chapter
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My Neighbor, My Enemy
Justice and Community in the Aftermath of Mass Atrocity
, pp. 162 - 182
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

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  • Memory, identity, and community in Rwanda
    • By Timothy Longman, Associate Professor of Political Science and African Studies, Vassar College; Research Fellow of the Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley, USA, Théonèste Rutagengwa, National Coordinator for the Center for Non-Violent Communication, Kigali, Rwanda
  • Edited by Eric Stover, University of California, Berkeley, Harvey M. Weinstein, University of California, Berkeley
  • Book: My Neighbor, My Enemy
  • Online publication: 05 May 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511720352.012
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  • Memory, identity, and community in Rwanda
    • By Timothy Longman, Associate Professor of Political Science and African Studies, Vassar College; Research Fellow of the Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley, USA, Théonèste Rutagengwa, National Coordinator for the Center for Non-Violent Communication, Kigali, Rwanda
  • Edited by Eric Stover, University of California, Berkeley, Harvey M. Weinstein, University of California, Berkeley
  • Book: My Neighbor, My Enemy
  • Online publication: 05 May 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511720352.012
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Memory, identity, and community in Rwanda
    • By Timothy Longman, Associate Professor of Political Science and African Studies, Vassar College; Research Fellow of the Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley, USA, Théonèste Rutagengwa, National Coordinator for the Center for Non-Violent Communication, Kigali, Rwanda
  • Edited by Eric Stover, University of California, Berkeley, Harvey M. Weinstein, University of California, Berkeley
  • Book: My Neighbor, My Enemy
  • Online publication: 05 May 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511720352.012
Available formats
×