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Title
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Peasants, power and ethnicity: a bottom-up perspective on Rwanda's political transition
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Author
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Abstract
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| This article analyses over 400 life trajectories of ordinary peasants in order to complement top-down studies of the Rwandan political transition. Changes and differences according to the ethnicity of the respondents shed light on the HutuTutsi bi-polarity which underlies the transition and reveal a reversal in perceived ethnic dominance accompanying the decisive moment in the political transition: the overthrow of the Hutudominated regime by the Tutsi-led RPF. This suggests that the experience of the nature of governance and the (perceived) proximity to power lies at the heart of ethnic awareness. The nature of governance at the periphery of society is explored, and the article demonstrates that the instrumental stance on ethnic identity adopted by the post-genocide regime is not only erroneous but counter-productive. Adjusting the socio-political environment in which identities thrive is more important than a direct focus on identity constructs when developing policies to prevent ethnically structured violence. |
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Language
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English
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Source (journal)
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African affairs / Royal African Society [London] - London, 1944, currens
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Publication
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London
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2010
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ISSN
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0001-9909
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DOI
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10.1093/AFRAF/ADP090
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Volume/pages
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109
:435
(2010)
, p. 273-292
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ISI
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000275818000005
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Full text (Publisher's DOI)
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