Citation
BOOK REVIEW
Omar Shahabudin McDoom. The Path to Genocide in Rwanda. Security, Opportunity, and Authority in an Ethnocratic State. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2021. xvii þ 384 pp. List of Figures. List of Tables. List of Abbreviations. References. Index. $99.99. Cloth. ISBN: 978-1108491464.
Beginning in 2003, Omar Shahabudin McDoom interviewed over three
hundred Rwandans, including prisoners, to learn why some (he estimates
one in five Hutu men), but not others, participated in the killing that took
place during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Drawing on established research
while contributing insightful new analyses, the resulting book, The Path to
Genocide in Rwanda, demonstrates broad knowledge of quantitative research
in political science, as well as various philosophical, sociological, and psychological theoretical frameworks for making sense of human behavior, both in
group contexts and with regard to individual agency.
The average low-level perpetrator (as opposed to architects and planners) was a middle-aged, married farmer who identified as Christian. Those
who took part in the killing were not radically different from those who did
not kill, except that the perpetrators were overwhelmingly male and somewhat younger. What mattered the most was where they lived and who they
knew. The more socially connected they were, the more likely Hutus were to
kill. In this largely rural, traditional social formation, connections between
neighbors and family members were powerful motivators; indeed, this was a
genocide by proximity.
One of McDoom’s many strengths is the ability to grapple simultaneously
with multiple competing theories, narratives, and results. The author
explores existing scholarly assumptions, noting the tendency of some analysts
to think in simple binaries: either state or individual, national or local,
rationality or emotion, or beliefs held before or during acts of violence. He
demonstrates the limits of such generalizations, illustrating why comparative
genocide studies are weakened by the cross-cultural application of generalizations. Explaining how Rwanda was unique on the African continent, he
follows with a complex outline of perpetrator heterogeneity, at the same time
avoiding an overemphasis on the power of the state, the intellect of the elite,
or the supposed “obedience” of local civilian perpetrators.
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the
African Studies Association.
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In establishing historical context, McDoom examines the conditions that
made genocide possible: the beginning of party politics following the Hutu
revolution, the perception of danger from the 1990–93 civil war, and peace
negotiations. Nonetheless, he contends, genocide was not an inescapable
result of these unique circumstances. The book methodically explains Rwanda’s unusual geography, demography, and political context, focusing on its
small size, hilly landscape, population density, ruling party machinery, reach
of the national government, and the pivotal catalyst of Habyarimana’s assassination.
Drawing on evidence from interviews and gacaca proceedings, the
author traces competing explanations of how and why the genocide
occurred, and how and why individuals were motivated to kill. His research
highlights the importance of what he terms “violence entrepreneurs” or
“ethnic entrepreneurs” who galvanized their local communities in this
densely populated country of remarkably integrated and tightly woven social
networks. Local drivers of the killing began with extremists, followed by
opportunists, who were ultimately joined by conformists. Perpetrators cite
multiple rationales, including the perception of security threat, acquiescence
to authority, and material opportunity. McDoom argues that local perpetrators who may have begun to participate out of fear of retaliation or ostracism,
initially killing with reluctance, were transformed by the process of killing.
Many became habituated to the violence and then changed: “Some killed
first and hated later” (382).
Though the text is impressively wide-ranging in scope, readers from
outside the social sciences may desire an even more diverse, interdisciplinary
range of source material to inform some of the assertions. While the author
cites Rwandan scholars such as Jean-Paul Kimonyo, much of the research
stems from European and U.S. scholars. As McDoom thoughtfully acknowledges, any book about the 1994 genocide will cause controversy and debate.
Refreshingly, he welcomes this critique. For example, his conclusions about
the responsibility for Habyarimana’s assassination will likely provoke debate,
as will his use of the term “ethnic,” when “social group” may be more
nuanced, and his estimate of the number of Tutsi victims and Hutu perpetrators. Fortunately, he does not espouse a “double genocide” theory.
McDoom’s carefully neutral forthrightness about the limitations of his
research findings and possible alternative explanations provide a welcome
perspective.
The Path to Genocide in Rwanda holds enormous value for scholars in the
intersecting fields of social science and genocide studies. The book offers
carefully researched conclusions highly specific to 1994 Rwanda and crucial
in distinguishing that particular genocide from others. The author—and the
reviewer—hope such research will clarify “the extraordinary, terrifying, and
tragic circumstances” of Rwanda in 1994.
BOOK REVIEW 3
doi:10.1017/asr.2021.124
Gerise Herndon
Nebraska Wesleyan University
Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
cgh@nebrwesleyan.edu
If you liked this, you may also enjoy:
Ingelaere, Bert. 2010. “Do We Understand Life after Genocide? Center and Periphery
in the Construction of Knowledge in Postgenocide Rwanda.” African Studies
Review 53 (1): 41–59. doi: 10.1353/arw.0.0307.
Newbury, David. 1998. “Understanding Genocide.” African Studies Review 41 (1):
73–97. doi: 10.2307/524682.
