F04Language-political reordering and the negation of difference in post-genocidal Rwanda

Linguistic policy reforms in Rwanda

This sub-project examines the key linguistic policy reforms through which the Rwandan state has sought to foster the development of a new national identity following the 1994 genocide. The focus is on analysing how language is deliberately employed as an instrument of political reorientation and social homogenisation. Particular attention is paid to the consequences of this linguistic reorganisation for migrants who have returned to Rwanda.

Indexicality and language as an identity marker

Since the ethnic conflict that culminated in the 1994 genocide, language in Rwanda has become a central symbol of belonging and societal change. The abolition of French as the “language of the genocide regime”, the introduction of English, and the standardisation of Kinyarwanda served to strategically redefine a shared national identity. However, these language policies mask underlying social and historical differences, meaning language continues to be both an instrument of political integration and a marker of subtle inequalities.

Language policy ideals and lived reality

Setting aside the state-driven logic of language policy, the question arises as to how this shapes social reality in Rwanda and how current language practices refer to, confirm, challenge or renegotiate social identities. This sub-project investigates how speakers perceive old and new categories – such as migrants, long-established residents, perpetrators and victims, how they position themselves in relation to these categories, and the role that linguistic dimensions play in these negotiation processes.

Shift of the Conflict from Rwanda to Eastern Congo

After 1994, the conflict shifted to Eastern Congo, driven primarily by waves of refugees and the emergence of new armed groups, culminating in the fall of the Mobutu regime and the Second Congo War. The project examines the conflict dynamics in eastern Congo that persist to this day, exploring how nationality, ethnicity, and language interact in the DR Congo-Rwanda border region within the current conflict, and what role human differentiation plays in this context—as a complex continuity, but also as the re-ethnicization of a war that has flared up again over the past three years.