Beyond the Political Causes of the Rwandan Genocide: A Historical and Sociocultural Construction of Ethnicity

Since 1994, many papers have been published on the mass killings of nearly one million Tutsi and moderate Hutu by Hutu extremists in Rwanda. However, despite their biographic and descriptive nature, some of these papers overestimate the responsibility of public authorities and of the international community. This paper argues that the Rwandan genocide, in addition to its political causes, was based on a historical and socio-cultural construction of the ethnic divide. Based on a constructivist approach, this paper analyzes life stories and testimonies collected in the literature. More specifically, it reveals how racist schemas constructed by the Belgian colonists were integrated into Rwandan culture and society and gave support to totalitarian political regimes.