Theory of Genocide: The Case of Rwanda

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Theory of Genocide: The Case of Rwanda
I feel that Social Dominance Theory best explains the Rwandan Conflict. According to Houghton (2009), within every society there is at least one dominant group and one subordinate group. In the Rwandan Conflict, the Tutsis were seen as the dominant group while the Hutus the subordinate group. Despite the Tutsis being a minority, they held more political power than the Hutus. The Tutsis held most of the power up until the year 1994 when the Hutu president was assassinated. There has been constant tension between the two ethnic groups due to the Tutsis social dominance over the Hutus. The peak of the tension occurred when President Juvénal Habyarimana, who was Hutu, was assassinated, causing the Hutu people to start a genocide of the Tutsis. The Hutus, in my opinion, wanted to be in power – i.e. the extremist wanted to be the socially dominant group – so they went to great extremes to make it happen. According to Sidanius & Pratto (1999), the Hutus were the ones who devised the plan to kill their president not the Tutsis.
Social Dominance...

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