En ny begyndelse: Produktion og forhandling af post-folkemord identitet og forsoning i den rwandiske nation

Abstract

The aim of this master thesis is to examine how the Rwandan government after the 1994 genocide produces its national reconciliation and unity strategy and how this strategy is negotiated locally by the local communities the government attempts to reconcile. From a post-structuralist perspective I first analyse how the government reconstructs the Rwandan national memory and identity in a new dominant national narrative. Second, I examine how the government institutionalises this new national narrative through the Gacaca Courts, a so-called traditionally inspired conflict resolution mechanism built on local community participation. Finally, I analyse how the so-called perpetrators and survivors of the genocide negotiate the government’s reconciliation strategy in a local community. The main argument is that the local community use the Gacaca Courts in their local struggles for power and access to resources; the result being a reinforcement of social division and conflict instead of reconciliation.