Rwanda : from genocide to precarious peace / Susan Thomson.

ISBN:

9780300235913

Title:

Author:

Thomson, Susan, 1968- author.

Personal Author:

Thomson, Susan, 1968- author.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xviii, 322 pages, 8 pages of plates) : illustrations, maps

Contents:

Cover page; Halftitle page; Title page; Copyright page; CONTENTS; PLATES, MAPS AND TABLES; ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; ABBREVIATIONS; INTRODUCTION: The "New" Rwanda; Genocide; Surviving Genocide, Becoming Rwandan; The Realities of Rural Life, the Promise of Kigali; A Precarious Peace; PART I. Genocide, and its Causes and Consequences; 1. GENOCIDE: Power Politics, not Ethnic Hatred; The RPF's Strategic Choices; A Country of Killers?; A Country in Ruin; Emotional and Physical Scars; Rewriting History; 2. THE ROOTS OF THE GENOCIDAL STATE; Tutsi Rule as Natural; The Social Revolution (1957-62).

Waves of Persecution (1959-73); Habyarimana Promises Peace and Development for All; 3. REFUGEE REBELS: Preparing for Civil War; Preparing for a Liberation War (1988-90); The RPF Invades from Uganda (1990); The Arusha Peace Accords (1990-93); A Military Solution? (1993-94); PART II Transitioning to Peace?; 4. A SEMBLANCE OF NORMALITY; The Transitional Government of National Unity; Human Rights Abuses; The Kibeho Massacre; Concentrating Power; 5. SECURING PEOPLE AND PLACE; Forced Repatriation of Refugees; Settling In; Uprooting the Rural Poor; Quelling the Insurgency.

6. CONTROL AT HOME AND ABROAD; Sparking Development; Justice or Revenge?; 7. MILITARIZED DEMOCRACY; Consensual Democracy; Coopting Critics; An Undemocratic Ascension; Stylized Democracy; PART III. Setting Up for Success; 8. STATE, PARTY, FAMILY; Becoming Modern; Leveraging the State; Class Status; The Family; Loyalty First; Weeding Out Deniers; 9. GOOD CITIZENS; Unity as Conformity; Managing Threats; 10. CONFORMITY OR ELSE; Surveillance Society; Women Pave the Way?; Unmasking Ethnic Politics; Managing Hutu; PART IV. The Fruits of Liberation; 11. RULES, RULES AND MORE RULES; Rwanda Incorporated?

Dignity for Whom?; 12. FRIENDS ONLY; No Longer With Us; Commemoration for Outsiders; Honoring Tutsi Lives; Tightening the Noose; EPILOGUE: The Politics of "Never Again"; Destiny Defined; Kagame Knows Best; President for Life?; NOTES; GLOSSARY; INDEX.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Subject Term:

Genocide -- Rwanda -- History -- 20th century.

HISTORY -- Africa -- Central.

Genocide

Geographic Term:

Rwanda -- History -- 20th century.

Rwanda -- Histoire -- 20e siècle.

Rwanda

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

http://ezproxy.angliss.edu.au/login?url=http://ezproxy.angliss.edu.au/login?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&AN=1720133

Publication Date:

2018

Publication Information:

New Haven :

Yale University Press,

[2018]

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
967.571 23	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A sobering study of the troubled African nation, both pre- and post-genocide, and its uncertain future

The brutal civil war between Hutu and Tutsi factions in Rwanda ended in 1994 when the Rwandan Patriotic Front came to power and embarked on an ambitious social, political, and economic project to remake the devastated central-east African nation. Susan Thomson, who witnessed the hostilities firsthand, has written a provocative modern history of the country, its rulers, and its people, covering the years prior to, during, and following the genocidal conflict. Thomson's hard-hitting analysis explores the key political events that led to the ascendance of the Rwandan Patriotic Front and its leader, President Paul Kagame. This important and controversial study examines the country's transition from war to reconciliation from the perspective of ordinary Rwandan citizens, Tutsi and Hutu alike, and raises serious questions about the stability of the current peace, the methods and motivations of the ruling regime and its troubling ties to the past, and the likelihood of a genocide-free future.

Author Notes

Susan Thomson is associate professor of peace and conflict studies at Colgate University. In 1994, she was program officer for the United Nations Development Programme and present in Rwanda during the crisis. She lives in Hamilton, NY.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

Academic study should balance criticism with opposing views to provide a full picture. Thomson (Colgate) offers plenty of criticism but often fails to provide adequate balance. The purpose here seems to be to attack the Rwandan government--and there are several valid critiques that should be addressed. However, Thomson seems to be stuck in letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. When the government acts contrary to what Thomson thinks best, it is disparaged, even if the decision was beneficial at the time. There are also some inconsistencies--readers are told that schooling in Rwanda is inhibited by school fees that the poor cannot pay, but hidden in a table is information that there is a penalty for anyone who removes a child from school for failure to pay the fees. This contradiction is never explained and is easy to miss. Valid critiques of the government are provided here, but the book should not be used by those without some background knowledge of Rwanda because of the biased position. It will take a careful read to parse out valid criticism from what sometimes reads as personal attacks. Summing Up: Optional. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --William R. Pruitt, Virginia Wesleyan University