Psychology

“You can't give a syringe with unity”: Rwandan responses to the government's single recategorization policies

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Rwanda's postgenocide government has implemented policies that resemble social psychological models of single recategorization, banning references to ethnic groups and replacing these with a superordinate, Rwandan identity. While social psychological research suggests problems with this approach, little is known about how people make sense of recategorization in the aftermath of ethnic conflict and genocide. The present interview study investigates the responses of 56 Rwandans to these single recategorization policies. Despite strong societal pressures, a variety of positions were apparent—showing how people actively construe categories, and the complexity of single recategorization in real-world settings. The findings suggest several novel insights and policy implications, including the need for context-specific approaches, utilitarian reasons for single recategorization, the role of malleability of identities in promoting social recategorization, and the potential use of recategorization models as transitional measures in postconflict societies.

Publication Title

Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy

Publication Date

2016

Volume

16

Issue

1

First Page

325

Last Page

359

ISSN

1529-7489

DOI

10.1111/asap.12097

Keywords

government policy making, genocide, social psychology, ethnic groups

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