CCS Working Papers No. 9
Ethnischer Konflikt und Ethnizität in Ruanda - Ein Beitrag zur
Konzeption von Ethnizität als primordiale Kategorie.(Carla Schraml)
Inhalt
Einleitung1. Wissenschaftliche Auseinandersetzung über Ethnizität und Genozid 1994
2.1 Konzeptionen von Ethnizität
2.2 Konzeptionen von ethnischem Konflikt
3. Neubewertung der wissenschaftlichen Diskussion
4. Historische Dekonstruktion ethnischer Kategorien
4.1 Ruanda 1994: ein ethnischer Konflikt?
4.2 Aktuelle Perzeption der ethnischen Konfliktlinie
5. Anschlussfähigkeit und Brüche der verschiedenen Erzählungen über Ethnizität von Ruandern
Schlussfolgerungen
Executive Summary
The following Working Paper will contribute to the theoretical
discussion about ethnicity and ethnic conflict in general, and in the
Rwandan context specifically. It will promote a conception of ethnicity
which allows to bridge the opposition between primordial and
constructivist approaches commonly found in the scientific discussion.
This can be achieved by focussing on the perceptions of social actors,
thereby avoiding a superficial analysis of ethnicity and ethnic
conflict. This approach assumes ethnicity to be a social category that
has been (re)constructed as primordial, meaning that it is constructed
to imply a genetically predetermined and fixed parameter.
First of all, the case of Rwanda serves to illustrate the opposing
approaches that dominate the discussion about ethnicity. The
elaboration of the proposed theory will demonstrate the insufficiency
of these discussions to grasp the phenomenon of ethnicity. In addition,
the theory will show how prior arguments about the question whether
speaking of “ethnic conflict” or not missed the point. Therefore, the
question whether the Rwandan genocide was an “ethnic conflict” needs to
be re-examined. In order to avoid the risk of a superficial analysis of
ethnicity and ethnic conflict (in the Rwandan context), the experiences
and views of people who witnessed tensions and atrocities based on
ethnic affiliation will be taken into account. In order to prevent an
essentialisation of ethnicity, which could result from merely
describing and taking into account the actual perceptions of actors,
the historical origin of the ethnic categories in Rwanda will be
traced. On the basis of empirical statements, the contradictions and
points of contact between the official narration promoted by scientists
and the narration of Rwandans will be demonstrated. Finally, the
problems and advantages of the scientific discourse on ethnicity in the
Rwandan context will be discussed.
Die Redaktion dieser Ausgabe besteht aus André Bank, Gesa Bent, Nadine Ebinghaus, Jane Felber, Maike Huber, Katja Schäfer, Carla Schraml, Stefanie Schuller, Kerstin Zimmer, Shiva Behzad, Rabea Haß. Kontakt zur Redaktion kann am einfachste via email aufgenommen werden: ccs-wp@staff.uni-marburg.de
