Book Review: Becoming Rwandan: Education, Reconciliation, and the Making of a Post-Genocide Citizen by S. Garnett Russell

Abstract

Orelia Jonathan’s review of Becoming Rwandan: Education, Reconciliation, and the Making of a Post-Genocide Citizen by S. Garnett Russell highlights Russell’s extensive investigation of the Rwandan government’s attempt to consolidate a unified national identity after the 1994 genocide, partly through education. Russell notes, however, that the government’s goals sometimes had unintended consequences. For example, unified historical narratives reinforced the divisions between Rwanda’s ethnic communities and made it difficult for teachers to facilitate the kind of open discussion and critical thinking about the country’s history that could promote reconciliation. Jonathan concludes by reminding readers that the complex relationship between education and peacebuilding requires EiE scholars and practitioners to consider a multifaceted approach to negotiating policy priorities.