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Changing Poison into Medicine Through Social Processes of “Finding Pathways Out”: The Rwandan Construction of a New Destiny in the Aftermath of the 1994 Genocide

Potts, Martha Ann
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1309554906

Abstract Details

2011, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Organizational Behavior.
Between April 6th and mid-July of 1994, more than a million Tutsi, moderate Hutu and Batwa were killed in the Hutu government orchestrated genocide in Rwanda, Africa. The initial purpose of the research was to explore micro-financed small business partnerships between Tutsi and Hutu women in the aftermath of the genocide. Based on the dictates of classic grounded theory the research was redirected to the more salient issues for the research participants. The topic evolved to one of looking at reconciliation, the creation of a progressive civil society and coping with tremendous loss. A grounded theory of “finding pathways out” of the horrors of genocide emerged as being the more salient concern of the research participants. The phrase, “finding pathways out,” refers to a group of social processes present in post-genocide Rwanda. They emerged from the data on three levels of the society; individual, national and community. On the individual level is a concept termed managing the void, the properties of which are: numbing down, masking, mimicking, episodic recall, confronting the void and catapulting the gap. On the national level, the concept is reconstituting national identity and the properties are: invoking the ancestors, embodying change, operationalizing change and sharing the dream. On the community level the concept is improvising civility with properties termed encouraging oneness, reaching deep and engaged healing. The theory highlights how Rwandans are redefining the past, shaping the ideals of the present, and envisioning the future as a means of influencing the reconciliation process.
Eric Neilsen, PhD (Committee Chair)
Ronald Fry, PhD (Committee Member)
David Kolb, PhD (Committee Member)
Mark Chupp, PhD (Committee Member)
307 p.
African Studies; Holocaust Studies; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Organizational Behavior; Peace Studies
classic grounded theory; genocide; post-genocide recovery; coping behaviors; community engagement; peacebuilding

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Potts, M. A. (2011). Changing Poison into Medicine Through Social Processes of “Finding Pathways Out”: The Rwandan Construction of a New Destiny in the Aftermath of the 1994 Genocide [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1309554906

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Potts, Martha. Changing Poison into Medicine Through Social Processes of “Finding Pathways Out”: The Rwandan Construction of a New Destiny in the Aftermath of the 1994 Genocide. 2011. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1309554906.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Potts, Martha. "Changing Poison into Medicine Through Social Processes of “Finding Pathways Out”: The Rwandan Construction of a New Destiny in the Aftermath of the 1994 Genocide." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1309554906

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1309554906
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© 2011, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.