article
Rwanda: the rationality of genocide
Issue • 23 (2) • Published In 1995 • Pages: 8-11
By: Lemarchand, René.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article argues that the Rwandan genocide is not reducible to a tribal meltdown rooted in atavistic hatreds or to a spontaneous outburst of blind fury set off by the shooting down of the presidential plane of April 6, as officials of the Habyarimana regime have repeatedly claimed. Instead, the discussion shows that the key to understanding this tragedy is 'planned annihilation, not the sudden eruption of long-simmering hatreds'.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Cultural identity and pride
- Territorial hierarchy
- Chief executive
- Military organization
- Social relationships and groups
- Political parties
- Inter-ethnic relations
- Political movements
- Revolution
- Mythology
- Warfare
- Inter-ethnic relations
- Aftermath of combat
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Rwandans
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2009
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Central Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Government Employee
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Teferi Abate Adem; 2009
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1994
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1959-1994
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Rwanda
- NotesAdditional notes
- René Lemarchand
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 75617054
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Ethnology Rwanda