Ethnopopulism and genocidal eliminationism: a discourse analysis of hate speech in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Scholars have written extensively on the link between ethnonationalism and genocide, but, so far, little has been written about how populism factors into genocidal violence. In this article, we theorise the link between ethnopopulist discourse and genocide. We begin by arguing that ethnopopulism is...
| Published in: | Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies Vol. 52; no. 4; pp. 910 - 931 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Feb2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=191948259&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 191948259 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 1369183X 56F jtl: Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies issn: 1369183X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Feb2026 vid: 52 iid: 4 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 191948259 10.1080/1369183X.2025.2595808 ppf: 910 ppct: 21 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 627KB tig: atl: Ethnopopulism and genocidal eliminationism: a discourse analysis of hate speech in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. aug: au: Jenne, Erin K. Frank Ejiofor, Promise affil: Department of International Relations, Central European University, Vienna, Austria Centre of Development Studies, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK su: Rwandan Genocide, 1994 Populism Genocide Ethnic groups Ethnonationalism Hate speech Rwanda sug: subj: Rwanda Rwandan Genocide, 1994 Populism Genocide Ethnic groups Ethnonationalism Hate speech keyword: Eliminationist politics ethnopopulism genocide nationalism populism Rwandan genocide ab: Scholars have written extensively on the link between ethnonationalism and genocide, but, so far, little has been written about how populism factors into genocidal violence. In this article, we theorise the link between ethnopopulist discourse and genocide. We begin by arguing that ethnopopulism is a tripartite sovereigntist discourse that elevates the ethnic nation as the 'true'; or 'authentic' sovereign, rejects 'penetrated' sovereignties such as liberalism, and calls for excluding both 'national others' and elites from the authentic sovereign community. We use the 1994 Rwandan genocide as an exemplar case to show how populism can be combined with ethnonationalism to construct the Tutsi minority not just as a 'national other', but as a 'super-threat′ to the Hutu nation. This discourse functioned in a context of radical de-institutionalism to make the extermination of the Tutsis not only thinkable, but seemingly necessary. Using transcripts from media broadcasts in the months leading up to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, we demonstrate that the genocidal ideology conveyed by Hutu supremacists against Tutsis and Hutu moderates is merely an extreme extension of the more mainstream 'enemy within' ethnopopulist discourse. Although ethnopopulist rhetoric rarely leads to genocidal violence, the case of Rwanda shows that it may do so in severely de-institutionalised settings. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies holder: Taylor & Francis Ltd dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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