Rwanda and Global Stratification - Essay Example

Rwanda and Global Stratification Rwanda and Global Stratification Titus Rock Manickam Order No. 216802 08 April 2008 Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Stratification in Rwandan Society..4 3. Modernization theory and Dependency theory..5 3.1 Modernization theory...5 3.2 Dependency theory...6 4. Four Patterns of Interactions..6 5. Ethnic Conflict Present in Rwandan Society..7 6. Conclusion..8 Bibliography..9 Rwanda and Global Stratification 1. Introduction Contemporary history has many lessons to learn on global stratification from numerous events which have occurred in recorded history. And because history cannot be biographical account, as it is based on facts and figures and subject to litmus tests and interpretations by bonafide critics, researchers and fellow historians, the facts are accepted per se without fear or favor. Rwanda has been in the eye of the storm for the very reason and purpose that the winds of globalization had begun to blow and accelerate, and the horrendous massacre of one ethnic group by another during the mid-90s brought the point to bear in world conscience that the reality of global stratification was a fact that could not be buried under the sand, but rather faced head-on, felt, studied, evaluated and understood for the sake of survival of decent and orderly societies everywhere in the world. (David Newbury and Catherine Newbury). There can be no better example than Rwanda in the annals of human history where a country so rich in natural beauty and flora and fauna could be subjected to a trauma for over 150years, beginning with its discovery by colonial powers in the mid-19th century. Of course, most countries in Africa and Asia also had gone through the subjugating periods of the colonial rulers. Countries like China, India, Myanmar, the Middle East, and others gained freedom after World War II. The situations in these countries are by and large peaceful. Hence, the Rwandan episode continues to serve as a test for regional stability and global stratification. 2. Stratification in Rwandan Society The Rwandan society comprise the pre-dominant Hutu and the Tutsi tribes with the Hutus making up 84% of the population, the Tutsis 14% and the Twa tribe, said to be the original inhabitants but now only forming 1% of the population. Physically, the Tutsis are tall, the Hutus short and square built, and the Twa are pygmoid. The differences are not ethnic as the Hutu and Tutsi tribes speak the same language of Kinyarwanda, and have had a history of intermarriages and share many cultural characteristics. Officially, English and French are also spoken. The problems seem to lie more on the regional level with one group vying with the other for political and economical control. The social barriers began to fester once the country became independent on July 1, 1962. The Belgian rulers who won the UN mandate to maintain their status in Rwanda after World War I, favored the Tutsi tribe as administrators and eventually when they left the country they tried to soothe feelings by having the Hutus share in power. However, feelings of mutual hatred and discontent had leaked so much into the mindset of the different groups that ultimately it could not but give way to much bloodshed once the Belgians left. 800,000 Tutsis were massacred across the country by marauding Hutu hoodlums egged on their ruling high command. The police and the army were openly one-sided in the brutality. The neighboring countries of Burundi, Zaire and Uganda were also embroiled in the unrest as both Hutu and Tutsi rebels took refuge in these countries to regroup and counter-attack each other. Millions were killed from both sides. The civil war raged from atrocities inflicted by one group leading to retribution by the other. The initial bloodshed inflicted by the Hutus on the Tutsis was returned by the latter in a 14-weeks route of the Hutus that overthrew the largely Hutu government with another ferocious bout of massacre. The bloodshed went on recurring sporadically until July 2002 when the two sides ultimately signed a peace accord tentatively ending a genocide lasting decades. (Rwanda). 3. Modernization theory and Dependency theory The Rwandan example has relevance to global stratification, its origin, cause, devastation, and solution. The origin is traced to its discovery and occupation by colonial powers. Its destabilizing discontent is found in the way Rwanda was manipulated and exploited for its natural resources and the colonist's requirement of manpower. Having achieved a measure of stability, independent Rwanda continues to flounder with violence outbursts in populated regions to gain control of natural resources by different militant groups and gangsters. 3.1 Modernization theory Developing economies like Rwanda have not been able to completely emerge unscathed even after independence from the scourge of social disparities like poverty, inequality, and the ethnic divide. The modernization theory provides the root cause of the malady in the courts of the erring nation. According to this theory, the root cause is in the present society that is divided on social, ethnic, economic, and political lines. The traditional and cultural ethos such societies blindly follow and enforce, are quoted as the main responsible factors for their inability to cope with the economic and social problems such as poverty and backwardness. So if Rwanda has to be on par with the developed nations such as the United States or Britain, she has to first find solutions to its internal differences and maladies. (Sharmila Joshi). 3.2 Dependency theory On the other hand, proponents of the dependency theory argue that the continued and systematic manipulation and exploitation of the local inhabitants for centuries by the colonial powers, combined with the lure of the profiteering economy again founded and developed by the colonials, are the dominant contributing factors to the festering violence and backwardness of the developing economies. The vice-like grip of the economic system, the political and social anomalies resulting from a wide mismatch in population numbers between the majority and minorities, the wounded psyche resulting from the brutal massacres not too long ago, the dependence of the developing nation on the United Nations charter dominated by the developed, western countries which until recently used to rule the world as colonists, all serve as the perfect recipe for the dependence theory that has still to emancipate the developing nations from the shackles of poverty, distrust and hatred. Indeed, the dependency theory rests on the fact that one nation has to depend if the other has to remain prosperous and self-reliant. (Sharmila Joshi). 4. Four Patterns of Interactions for Minority and Majority Groups in Rwandan Society The legacy left by the predecessors who happened to be the colonists in the case of Rwanda left more room for conflicts than convergence. No majority likes to be dominated by the minority. More to the point, none likes being discriminated on the grounds of ethnicity. This fact, however, does not mitigate the responsibility of the present disposition in the country's woes. The developing nations are slow in learning lessons taught either by history or even in one's own home turf. The minority and the majority in the Rwandan society along with the neighbor countries, viz. Burundi, Zaire, and Uganda, are inexorably following a pattern that cannot provide succor to either. The four patterns are: perpetuate violence, return to the negotiating table, elect a leader, and replace the leader. Since the aftermath of the genocide and the election of Pasteur Bizimungu, a Hutu, as President by the Tutsis, no premier has been able to handle the volatile situation of Rwanda. Adding to the discontentment, the involvement of Zaire and Uganda ominously portends a gloomy pattern of recurring hostilities resorted to by vested interests. Religious, linguistic, cultural and territorial differences too have a hand in the disturbances as Rwanda has a huge population of Catholics and Protestants with their supporter globally spread out. (David Carment and Patrick James). 5. Ethnic Conflict Present in Rwandan Society Political, social, economic, and cultural understanding is vital for a country's growth and leadership. The leadership in Rwanda has been found wanting in providing an able administration to the beleaguered nation. Pasteur Bizimungo and Paul Kagame, who took over as president and vice-president could not provide the desired results. Bizimungo was subsequently to 15 years imprisonment or his role in inciting violence. Similarly, Jean Kambada, a former prime minister of Rwanda, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the UN tribunal (the first one to be sentenced by the tribunal) in 1998. Laurent Kabila who came to power with much fanfare and popularity too was soon dispensed with. Constant attacks by Hutu guerillas with help from Zaire and Uganda did him in. Paul Kagame won a landslide victory in the August 2003 presidential elections, after the country had overwhelmingly voted in favor of a new constitution in May that same year, that introduced effective reforms which forbade either group from having more than 50% seats in the parliament. This constitution also outlawed ethnic violence, and sentenced Bizimungo. (Rwanda). 6. Conclusion A daunting task a leader faces when making a move to change a history of violence and bloodshed is to do so in a relatively short period of time. Also, he is expected to do so against a backdrop of palpable public memory still nurturing the wounds of savagery inflicted not too long ago by the very people sitting across peace table conferences. Amidst all the high-voltage saga of the just bygone era, the leadership has to steer the ship away from the stormy course of high windy seas to the still waters of calm reason and saner future for posterity. The comparative period of peace in present politics in Rwanda augurs well for a future of progress and prosperity in the country. Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Bibliography: David Carment and Patrick James, Escalation of ethnic conflict, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, p. 4, http://www.fundea.org/masterco/hemeroteca/Escalatioofnethnic.pdf. David Held et al, Global Transformations, Researching Globalization, http://www.polity.co.uk/global/research.asp#top. David Newbury and Catherine Newbury, Bringing the Peasants Back In: Agrarian Themes in the Construction and Corrosion of Statist Historiography in Rwanda, The American Historical Review, June 2000, Vol. 105, No. 3, http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ahr/105.3/ah000832.html. Nelson Alusala, Disarmament and reconciliation, Rwanda's concerns, Occasional Paper 108, June 2005, http://www.issafrica.org/pubs/papers/108/Paper108.htm. Phil Bartle, PhD, Global Stratification, Community Empowerment, Sociology Lecture Notes, Inequality, http://www.scn.org/cds/cmp/modules/soc-glb.htm. Rwanda, Infoplease, http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107926.html. Sharmila Joshi, Theories of development: Modernization vs dependency, Infochange development dictionary, http://infochangeindia.org/devp_dictionary_04.jsp. Read More