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African Studies Quarterly, Volume 23, Issue 2, September 2025
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African Studies Quarterly | Volume 23, Issue 2| September 2025
Marie-Eve Desrosiers. 2023. Trajectories of Authoritarianism in Rwanda: Elusive Control
before the Genocide. New York: Cambridge University Press. 386 pp.
The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, more commonly known as the Rwandan Genocide, is
perhaps one of the most researched topics within the African Great Lakes region. The sheer
scale of the genocidal massacre, over 800,000 Tutsis and non-extremist Hutus killed within one
hundred days, and the nation's post-genocide reconciliation brought Rwanda significant
attention by genocide and transitional justice researchers. Since the Genocide, a disconnect has
developed between academics who question Rwanda's reconciliation, human rights, and
development from those in the private sector, practitioners, and international leaders who
praise Rwanda's development. Often lost in these debates and research is Rwanda's previous
history.
Desrosiers's book examines the First (1962-1973) and Second (1973-1994) Republics under
the leadership of Grégoire Kayibanda and Juvénal Habyarimana respectively. This history is
often either missing in much of the existing academic literature or minimized to showcase how
events during this period led to the Genocide. The book focuses on this period to provide a
more holistic understanding of everyday life in Rwanda. It attempts to disrupt current
understandings that portray these republics as simply dictatorships with a general focus on
period elites rather than the experiences of most Rwandans.
Excluding the introduction and conclusion, the book consists of nine chapters. The first two
chapters provide a theoretical examination of authoritarianism, which benefits the later
exploration of Rwanda before the Genocide. Chapter Two begins to connect the theory to the
case study and African politics more generally. The following chapter explores Rwandan
history outside the typically normative constructs to illustrate Rwandans' often complex
relationships with their government. Specifically, this chapter examines the Belgian colonial
period and the 1959 Social Revolution. Chapter Four continues Rwanda's historical path with
the Coup of Gitarama and the creation of a "soft authoritarian state" (p. 16). Establishing this
Rwandan authoritarianism framework allows Desrosiers to better examine both Republics'
authoritarian strategies and tactics. Rather than focusing chapters on specific periods, Chapters
Five to Nine instead focus on topics and how both regimes engaged them.
For instance, Chapters Six and Seven examine how internal and external security threats
impacted perceptions of both regimes and how they engaged with the threats. However,
Chapter Seven also discusses the breaks within the authoritarian systems because of these
security and destabilising threats. The following chapter focuses on the political and economic
systems that influenced public policy and how state officials engaged with Rwandans. Notably,
the author stresses in Chapter Nine how many Rwandans did not engage with the national
authoritarian government officials. Rather, they would engage with the "antennas" of the
system (p. 317), which were often local officials responsible for implementing national policy at
the local levels. However, many, such as in Remera, acted more like minor chiefs (p. 318). The
conclusion attempts to classify the current political system as more authoritarian than before
but also harms the book's central argument.
The book's central purpose is to provide a more in-depth and holistic understanding of
Rwanda's first two Republics. It decries the academic norms of generalizing these periods to
African Studies Quarterly | Volume 23, Issue 2|September 2025
https://journals.flvc.org/ASQ
BOOK REVIEWS |97
suit one's understanding of how Rwanda's Genocide occurred. Its conclusion significantly
harms the desire to problematize existing historical understandings. Throughout much of the
book, Desrosiers warns the reader not to believe generalizations about Rwanda but then falls
within the same trap to discuss present-day Rwandan politics and development. She does not
attempt to provide a holistic understanding of current challenges as she did for the previous
regimes. This leads to several questions about the real goal of the book.
A fundamental question arises of whether the writing of this book was to problematize our
understanding of Rwandan history or another outside political motivation. Much of Rwanda's
post-genocide government policies are designed to oppose past mistakes, corruption, and
persecutions found in the previous Republics. However, Desrosiers argues that life during those
periods was not significantly difficult despite the vicious anti-Tutsi policies, pogroms,
persecutions, and exclusions. Thus, by arguing that these periods were overall liveable, it
deprives the current government of any form of moral authority beyond being responsible for
ending the Genocide. If we discount this assessment, we are left with the unbalanced conclusion
that providing a holistic understanding of authoritarianism is acceptable in some periods but
not others. While there are other minor issues with the book, such as the underutilization of its
Rwandan informants, nonetheless this book will be a welcome addition to understanding
Rwandan history.
Jonathan R. Beloff, New York University
97 23, Issue 2| September 2025
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