Dividing and uniting: The use of citizenship discourses in conflict and reconciliation in Rwanda

Conflict and reconciliation in Rwanda are closely tied to the public discourse on citizenship. This article therefore examines the use of citizenship discourses and their political functions. After independence, the notion of citizenship was employed to divide the polis by reducing citizenship to ethnic Hutu identity, entailing the exclusion of all Tutsi, while today, after the genocide, citizenship is based on ‘Rwandanness’ and all ethnic references are eradicated in the public discourse. In an effort to construct a collective identity the present government's nation-building project promotes national unity and de-ethnicisation. This, however, is potentially counter-productive since it denies a space for difference and silences criticism and legitimate grievances.