chapter will now turn to an overview of select themes from Rwanda's history, and then to a background discussion of theoretical and comparative conceptualizations of the process that has become known in scholarly parlance as "post-conflict reconciliation Background to Genocide There are three principal ethnic groups in Rwanda- the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. Throughout the 20 century, the numerical breakdown of these groups was approximately 84% Hutu, 15% Tutsi and 1% Twa. Although Rwandans of Tutsi ethnicity comprised the bulk of the individuals killed during the genocide, it is generally thought that this breakdown remains largely the same today and that the many Tutsi refugees that returned to Rwanda after the 1994 genocide replaced numerically the hundreds of thousands of Tutsis who were killed during this time. Given that the Rwandan genocide involved the systematic massacre of one particular ethnic group, it is tempting to attribute the genocide merely to primordial ethnic hatred and thus to relegate it to the realm of ancient and therefore intractable conflicts. Such a simple explanation, however, does not even begin to touch on the complex interplay of political, economic, historical and cultural factors that together gave birth to this mass human tragedy. Thus, in attempting to grasp the causative origins of the genocide, scholars point to everything from ethnic animosity to economic inequalit from colonial historyto political opportunism, and from ecological pressure to the vicissitudes of the stringent economic policy reforms that accompanied the World Bank's aid and loan packages. 8 Des Forges. 31-37. 6 The Rwandan refugee diaspora was the result of the events surrounding and following the 1959"Social Revolution "in Rwanda. During this time, many large-scale massacres of Rwandan Tutsis took place causing many Tutsis to flee to neighboring countries, particularly Uganda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo 7 Rwanda was first colonized by the Germans in 1897, and was taken over by Belgium in 1916 during World War I. Belgium officially relinquished its imperial control over Rwanda in 1962 For further discussions of the many factors that contributed to the 1994 genocide, see Des Forges Mahmood Mamdani, When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in rwanda (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2001); David Newbury, "Understanding Genocide, African Studies Review 41, no. 1(1998): 73-97; Gerard Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis, 1959-1994. History of a Genocide(New York: Columbia University Press, 1997); Peter Uvin Aiding Violence: The Development Enterprise in Rwanda(west Hartford, Connecticut: Kumarian Press, 1998)3 chapter will now turn to an overview of select themes from Rwanda’s history, and then to a background discussion of theoretical and comparative conceptualizations of the process that has become known in scholarly parlance as “post-conflict reconciliation.” Background to Genocide There are three principal ethnic groups in Rwanda – the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. Throughout the 20th century, the numerical breakdown of these groups was approximately 84% Hutu, 15% Tutsi, and 1% Twa.5 Although Rwandans of Tutsi ethnicity comprised the bulk of the individuals killed during the genocide, it is generally thought that this breakdown remains largely the same today, and that the many Tutsi refugees that returned to Rwanda after the 1994 genocide replaced numerically the hundreds of thousands of Tutsis who were killed during this time.6 Given that the Rwandan genocide involved the systematic massacre of one particular ethnic group, it is tempting to attribute the genocide merely to primordial ethnic hatred and thus to relegate it to the realm of ancient and therefore intractable conflicts. Such a simple explanation, however, does not even begin to touch on the complex interplay of political, economic, historical and cultural factors that together gave birth to this mass human tragedy. Thus, in attempting to grasp the causative origins of the genocide, scholars point to everything from ethnic animosity to economic inequality, from colonial history7 to political opportunism, and from ecological pressure to the vicissitudes of the stringent economic policy reforms that accompanied the World Bank’s aid and loan packages.8 5 Des Forges, 31-37. 6 The Rwandan refugee diaspora was the result of the events surrounding and following the 1959 “Social Revolution” in Rwanda. During this time, many large-scale massacres of Rwandan Tutsis took place, causing many Tutsis to flee to neighboring countries, particularly Uganda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 7 Rwanda was first colonized by the Germans in 1897, and was taken over by Belgium in 1916 during World War I. Belgium officially relinquished its imperial control over Rwanda in 1962. 8 For further discussions of the many factors that contributed to the 1994 genocide, see Des Forges; Mahmood Mamdani, When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2001); David Newbury, “Understanding Genocide,” African Studies Review 41, no. 1 (1998): 73-97; Gérard Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis, 1959-1994: History of a Genocide (New York: Columbia University Press, 1997); Peter Uvin Aiding Violence: The Development Enterprise in Rwanda (West Hartford, Connecticut: Kumarian Press, 1998)