1994 When Victims Become Killers by Mahmood Mamdani

1994: When Victims Become Killers by Mahmood Mamdani is a study of the Rwandan genocide and of the political history that made such violence possible, asking how victims of one history can become the killers of another.

The book looks beyond the events of 1994 itself to the longer colonial and postcolonial history of Rwanda, examining how identities were formed, hardened and turned into political weapons. It considers the roles of the state, of citizenship and belonging, and of the ways in which ordinary people were drawn into mass violence, offering a political explanation of genocide rather than treating it as an eruption of ancient hatred.

Key themes readers will explore:

• The political history of Rwanda before and after 1994
• How colonial rule shaped identities that later became lethal
• Citizenship, belonging and exclusion as political questions
• The difference between a political and a purely ethnic explanation of genocide
• What the Rwandan experience suggests about preventing mass violence

Who should read this book: Readers interested in African history, genocide studies and political history, and anyone who wants a deeper explanation of how mass violence takes shape.

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