The old pluralist school of political sociology (mostly ex-Marxists and/or serious, though flawed, students of Marx) had one major valid point: when "cleavages" (societal divisions) coincide, there's trouble, i.e. when ethnic antagonism corresponds to class animosity.
Jim Devine, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://myweb.lmu.edu/jdevine/ > -----Original Message----- > From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Louis > Proyect > Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 9:03 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [PEN-L] A genocidal economy? > > Villia Jefremovas. Brickyards to Graveyards: From Production to > Genocide in > Rwanda. SUNY Series in the Anthropology of Work. Albany: State > University > of New York Press, 2002. xi + 162 pp. Maps, schemata, figures, > tables, > appendices, notes, bibliography, index. $59.50 (cloth), ISBN 0-7914- > 5487-8; > $21.95 (paper), ISBN 0-7914-5488-6. > > Reviewed by: Elisa von Joeden-Forgey, Department of History, > University of > Pennsylvania. > > Published by: H-Genocide (January, 2005) > A Genocidal Economy? > > Villia Jefremovas' book, Brickyards to Graveyards: From Production > to > Genocide in Rwanda, is a fascinating account of the Rwandan brick > industry > before 1994 that raises many important questions about the Rwandan > genocide. Jefremovas posits, as her title suggests, a crucial link > between > economic organization in Rwanda and the mass killing of 1994. Based > on > field research conducted in Rwanda between 1984 and 1986, she argues > that > her five field sites serve as lenses "through which the lead-up to > the > events that so horrified the world in 1994 can be viewed" (p. 2). > She bases > this argument on the fact that most of the pre-genocide massacres > and later > mass-killing occurred in regions where Jefremovas, a professor of > geography > and environmental studies at Carleton University, found a high > degree of > economic stratification that was reflected in the brick industry. > The > implication is that in areas of greater economic inequality, the > call to > genocide found more fertile ground. > > Jefremovas points out that resources in the regions that experienced > some > of the worst massacres before and during the genocide were > monopolized by a > few powerful patrons connected with the leading Hutu Power faction > within > the ruling party. This resource inequality would make peasants in > the > regions (mostly the northwest) much more dependent upon their > patrons, and > hence vulnerable to their genocidal demands. Such a line of argument > suggests that people engaged in genocide primarily as economic > actors. This > explanation of the Rwandan genocide, often referred to as the > "resource > crunch" thesis, has been put forth in less sophisticated ways since > the > genocide began, most notably in a USAID-commissioned report from > November > 1994.[1] The "resource crunch" thesis argues that population growth > within > the context of severely limited resources accounts for the > willingness of > people to take up arms against their unarmed neighbors. In > Jefremovas's words: > > "[the genocide] did not arise out of ancient hatreds but through > overt > political manipulation, ruthlessly orchestrated by a morally > bankrupt > elite. Factors such as the growing landlessness, disparities between > rich > and poor, the ambitions of an increasingly ruthless elite losing > their grip > on power, regional politics, and regional dynamics played a central > role in > the genocide and political slaughter. There is no doubt there was a > difference in how Hutu and Tutsi were treated--nonpolitical Hutu > were > terrorized while nonpolitical Tutsi were killed--but, as Filip > Reyntjens > argues, the socioeconomic aspects of the killings also should not be > ignored.... As the killings gained momentum, the violence became > more > complex and less linked to purely political ends. There was outright > robbery. Personal vendettas were settled. Property under dispute > could be > appropriated by one claimant from another on the basis of > accusations. > Human Rights Watch/Africa points out repeatedly that political > authorities > needed to chastise the mobs for looting without killing. People who > had > excited the jealousy of their neighbors by being marginally more > affluent > were attacked" (p. 119). > > Critics of the "resource crunch" thesis accuse its authors of > treating > Africans as an unthinking, amoral mass. Mahmood Mamdani, for > example, > writes in his When Victims Become Killers (which was published a few > months > after Jefremovas's study): "My critique of those who tend to accent > the > economic and the cultural in the understanding of the genocide is > that > their explanation obscures the moment of decision, of choice, as if > human > action, even--or, shall I say, particularly--at its most dastardly > or > heroic, can be explained by necessity alone."[2] Jefremovas avoids > this > pitfall of economic approaches to genocide by consistently restating > the > complexity of the factors that made the genocide possible, and by > focusing > on individuals. Indeed, one of the strengths of Jefremovas's book is > that > it is filled with people. > > full: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=80031109089734 > > > Louis Proyect > Marxism list: www.marxmail.org
