Preparing for genocide: Quasi-experimental evidence from Rwanda

Evelina Bonnier, Jonas Poulsen, Thorsten Rogall, Miri Stryjan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper shows how state-controlled community meetings can facilitate large-scale mobilization of civilians into violence. We analyze a Rwandan community program that required citizens to participate in community work and political meetings every Saturday in the years before the 1994 genocide. We exploit cross-sectional variation in meeting intensity induced by exogenous weather fluctuations, and find that a one standard-deviation increase in the number of rainy Saturdays before the genocide decreased civilian violence by 17 percent. We find evidence that the meetings provided an arena for local elites to spread propaganda and bring people together. In research and policy, community meetings are often treated as positive, community building forces. Our results indicate that they can also lead to negative outcomes. This should, however, not suggest that such meetings are inherently destructive. Instead, community meetings should be understood as powerful tools and their effects depend on the political intention of the leaders.

Original languageEnglish
Article number102533
JournalJournal of Development Economics
Volume147
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Nov 2020

Keywords

  • Collective action
  • Community meetings
  • Conflict
  • Genocide
  • Industrial organization of conflict
  • Political elites

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Development
  • Economics and Econometrics

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