Amr-Bin Omar L.

Amatonding HST133
BA-History
Moise, J. (2006). The Rwandan Genocide: The True Motivations for Mass Killings.
Emory University. Volume 1.
http://history.emory.edu/home/documents/endeavors/volume1/Moises.pdf

The article describes the events that transpired during 1994 when the country of
Rwanda was facing a nationwide crisis, where 800,000 people were subjected to a
systematic genocide in a period of three months. Written by Jean Moise of Emory
University, the article attempts at investigating the true motivation for the Rwandan
Genocide of 1994 as more than just social divide and ethnic hatred between the Hutus
and Tutsis; but rather it points to the roots of the economic recession and civil war, which
allowed the Northern Hutu elites manipulate the perception of the masses and inciting
ethnic division to keep them in political power.

To start with, the author provided a historiography with regards to other school of
thoughts that pertain to the genocide. The author explains further that stressors create an
environment that makes reactions an essential circumstance. For example, the absence of
something, the necessity of something, or even the fear of something, causes people to
respond by making a change to these situations. The author adds that some historians
agree that the three-month massacre of 1994 was a result of was motivated by events of
centuries prior, while others believe that the motive can be attributed to the political and
economic stress of a decade prior. The author explains the former argument further by
adding that older schools of thought highlight the argument on “ancient hatreds,” which
means that centuries of built-up hatred make up the current hatred. The author, however,
disproves its validity as he argues that ethnicity and identity are likely to change over
time. Another theory points to “conflictual organization,” which Moises also argues does
not provide a more complete argument, as it explains the innovating group’s belief that a
less innovative group will stunt the societal advancement, as a whole. Again, the author
disproves this argument as he exclaimed that it does not explain why modernization leads
to violent ethnic conflicts in some periods and venues in history more than others.

The author then moves on to two important contrasting perspectives that pertain
to ethnic violence. One of which is the symbolist political theory developed by Stuart
Kaufman, and is based on a social-psychological view, which states the critical
importance of intangible concerns when characterizing motivation behind ethnic violence
such as a group’s emotional state. The author adds that advocates of the symbolist
political theory believe that extreme acts of ethnic violence such as that of the Rwandan
genocide are a consequence of group myths that justify hostility, fears of group
extinction, and a symbolic politics of chauvinist mobilization. The author also adds that
symbolists believe that this was present in Rwanda and was, thus, the motivation for its
genocide.

Jean Moise mentioned the contrasting theory called the rational choice model,
which stresses the self-interest of the elite and security dilemma that serve as the primary
motivators for ethnic violence. The author continues by arguing under the rationalist
theory that the desire to remain in power, as well as the threat of losing it in an
environment of political and economic instability leads to deviation among the society
and then fractionalization.
Amr-Bin Omar L. Amatonding HST133
BA-History
Apart from the main proponents of the 2 contrasting theories on ethnic violence,
there were also mentions from the article about the different myths of the 3 existing
ethnicities in Rwanda, and in most cases, these myths tend to paint each other in a
negative light. Hence, the cited examples on the varying myths end at the provide the
same outcome on the hierarchy of the Rwandan society. The article then cites that
Kaufman believes the story of origins, which is used as a justification of the rule of the
Tutsi minority, serves as the foundation of Hutu hostility toward Tutsi. The author
furthers this theory by stating that the Belgian colonizers viewed the Hutu majority as
“ignorant, vile, slaves by nature, with no ambition,” whereas the Twa’s physical features
were similar to that of apes. On the other hand, the Tutsi received much praise, believing
that they were the more evolved ethnic group in both appearance and intelligence and are
therefore viewed to be superior. These ethnic comparisons made by the Belgians are
ingrained into the Hutu belief system, which later developed into jealousy toward the
Tutsi and then hatred by 1994.

To explain further the rational choice theory, the author cited an example which
pertains to the prior events leading to the eventual genocide of 1994, when the
government of Habyarimana mobilized the military to curb the rising civic unrest in the
1980s when the country was facing an economic crisis and his government, suffering in
its reputation. The mobilization of the military served as an attempt to maintain his
political power, instead of opting for a diplomatic process. This lasted until 1994 when
Habyarimana finally sat down with the resurgent group and signed a treaty that would
reduce the power of the Northern Hutu, which was viewed by the affected party as an act
of transgression.

The author also pointed out that economy had a role to play in the genocide,
which took roots when Habyarimana led a successful coup against the government in
1973, after which the economy started to take its toll in the 1980s owed to drought and
population and food ratios were not balanced, exponentially increasing the poverty rate in
the country, as well as the prevalence of corruption among the government positions. The
author would then move on to the role of politics in the genocide, which he cited the
existence of a mafia-like relationship between Habyarimana and the Northern Hutu elites,
who keep the former in power. Moreover, the author also added that the hate which was
programmed into the people by the government also had a role in the genocide, which he
explains that the government took on a radical form of propaganda that painted the RPF
insurgents as Tutsi invaders that came to Rwanda to steal their scarce land as they did
centuries prior.

To summarize, the article pointed out to various motivations that fueled the ethnic
violence in Rwanda, which would then culminate with the genocide of 1994 that resulted
to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.