When Victims Become Killers

By Mahmood Mamdani,

Book cover of When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda

Book description

An incisive look at the causes and consequences of the Rwandan genocide

"When we captured Kigali, we thought we would face criminals in the state; instead, we faced a criminal population." So a political commissar in the Rwanda Patriotic Front reflected after the 1994 massacre of as many as one…

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Why read it?

1 author picked When Victims Become Killers as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This influential book on the Rwandan genocide presents a nuanced analysis of how extreme violence can arise in postcolonial contexts. Through this and other writings, Mamdani has made important contributions to the study of violence, imperialism, and postcolonialism.

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