Evolution, or lack thereof

June 13, 2009
This evening Shirley has some acquaintances over, primarily from her Center for Gender, Culture, and Development - all women. I felt obliged to join their company, if only briefly, but I became interested in their discussion of strategies to bolster the center and gauge public interest. This somehow turned to a comparative analysis of the 1994 genocide and the Holocaust, considering parallels and the strengths of such.

- strategic planning - YES
- propaganda - YES
- scapegoating of the "other" - YES
- "overt differences" in the target groups - NO
- institutionalization and participation - NO

One of the visiting professors working with Shirley is researching Umuganda, a community work day which falls the last Saturday of each month. She is interested in the evolution of its history and the international influence upon the local activity taken (e.g. theme of May Umuganda was "customer care" - largely influenced by Joe Ritchie, American businessman). With changed use throughout history, cultural perception has also changed. For example, during the genocides, umuganda was used as a collective call to participate in the killings. Now the state is trying to shift the purpose and the perception to a nationalist, unifying call to better and progress Rwanda. However, for those targeted in the genocide, each Umuganda might be simply a reminder of organized mass murder.