From Classrooms to Conflict in Rwanda

by Elisabeth King

This book questions the conventional wisdom that education builds peace by exploring the ways in which ordinary schooling can contribute to intergroup conflict. Based on fieldwork and comparative historical analysis of Rwanda, it argues that from the colonial period to the genocide, schooling was a key instrument of the state in contributing to the construction, awareness, collectivization, and inequality of ethnic groups in Rwanda – all factors that underlay conflict. The book further argues that today's post-genocide schools are dangerously replicating past trends. This book is the first to offer an in-depth study of education in Rwanda and to analyze its role in the genesis of conflict. The book demonstrates that to build peace, we cannot simply prescribe more education, but must understand who has access to schools, how schools are set up, and what and how they teach.

226 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Kellen Short · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read parts of this book in college and thought it would be interesting to go back and was the whole thing. I was mistaken. It is very academic and dense. King explores some intriguing ideas about how schools can exacerbate division within society but would only recommend if you want to get an idea of academic literature on the subject.