After Genocide: Memory and Reconciliation in Rwanda

University of Wisconsin Press, Critical Human Rights Series

In the wake of unthinkable atrocities, it is reasonable to ask how any population can move on from the experience of genocide. Simply remembering the past can, in the shadow of mass death, be retraumatizing. So how can such momentous events be memorialized in a way that is productive and even healing for survivors? Genocide memorials tell a story about the past, preserve evidence of the violence that occurred, and provide emotional support to survivors. In After Genocide, I investigate the ways memorials can shape the experiences of survivors decades after the mass violence has ended.

“Powerful. Fox’s findings—including that the more mundane, everyday interactions are a more meaningful component of reconciliation—make beautiful and important contributions to the literature on peacebuilding and transitional justice, and have critical implications for international actors and policymakers.”—Marie E. Berry, author of War, Women, and Power: From Violence to Mobilization in Rwanda and Bosnia-Herzegovina

“After Genocide is a must-read for criminologists, cultural sociologists, and transitional justice scholars. Engaging and innovative, it entails crucial lessons on conditions of memorialization—its intensity, selectivity, and gendered nature—and its effects on peace.”— Joachim Savelsberg, University of Minnesota

“Essential for anyone interested in collective memory, violence, and social justice. Fox’s careful, in-depth fieldwork results in a rich understanding of how Rwandans remember and narrate their pasts, and her brilliant concept of stratified collective memory powerfully illustrates how some peoples’ memories become privileged while others’ memories are marginalized.”—Hollie Nyseth Brehm, The Ohio State University