Abstract:
Identity politics in post-genocide Rwanda has continued to centre around ethnicity, whereas
this article argues that the ‘lived’ identities of Rwandans are far more complex and varied
than the identity of ethnicity. The Rwandan government has attempted to transcend ethnicity
through laws that prohibit the use of ethnicities and the introduction of a particular kind
of citizenship discourse. Critics of the government call for more open and robust discussion
of ethnicity in the public sphere, and tend to emphasise the perceived unequal access to
resources as a central problem in ethnic identity politics in Rwanda. This article attempts
to move beyond both these positions, which place the root cause of and solution to identity
politics in Rwanda within an ethnic framework, by exploring the complex network of
interrelationships in which people move in their daily lives.
