Special Report in two chapters written by María Rebeca Ibarra Neri, Levi Basave Sánchez, José María Arrieta Laborde and Jimena Hernández Escoto
In this edition of Espectro Mundial, we will begin with an introduction to the research titled, Postcolonial social violence outbreak: Genocide in Rwanda, a contribution between María Rebeca Ibarra Neri, Levi Basave Sánchez, José María Arrieta Laborde and Jimena Hernández Escoto, who are students of International Relations at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico City Campus. This study is conducted regarding the colonial history of Rwanda. The purpose is to get more insight into the legacy of European colonial rule and to determine whether it is possible to connect it with post-colonial violence, specifically the genocide that occurred in 1994.
Rwanda is a landlocked country located in east-central Africa, it is surrounded by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda. The capital and most populated city is Kigali, having a total population of about 11.2 million people. Abrupt mountains and deep valleys cover most of the country extension (24,949 km²). The most important water body of the country is the Lake Kivu in the northwest of the country, being the highest lake in the continent, at an altitude of 1,472 m. Rwanda's highest point is the Karisimbi volcano with 4,324 m. The current president is Paul Kagame, a Tutsi politician and leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). In terms of ethnicity, 85% are Hutus, 14% are Tutsis and 1% Twas.
In recent years, Rwanda has become a synonym for ethnic violence, genocide and the failure of the international community. However, little is known about the history of what is also called “land of a thousand hills”. In fact, most literature dealing with the colonial history of Sub-Saharan Africa does not even mention the country, but unlike most of the European colonies in Africa and elsewhere in the world, Rwanda was not invented as a political entity, it already existed as a monarchy in pre-colonial times with similar national borders as those it holds today.
The main objective of these sets of essays is to explore more profoundly the relation between the aftermath of European colonialism in Rwandan society and the eruption of post-colonial violence in the African country from a sociological point of view. We will look into the way the concepts of “race and “ethnicity” were socially constructed through the years. Also, there is going to be an overview of the history of Rwanda and how social and political relations changed with colonialism.
Join us next week where, on the following issue, we will discuss background about social constructions based on race, ethnicity and the conflict that arouses from it.
References
Hintjens, H. (1999). Explaining the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 37, 241-286. October 20th 2016
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