The "here and there" of Rwandan reconciliation : individual actors take centre stage

(eng) This thesis addresses the question of reconciliation in Rwanda. It sheds new light on this phenomenon by proposing a shift of perspective for its study. This perspective brings me to include the question of exile and return for exploring the meaning of reconciliation in contemporary Rwanda. As a matter of fact, since the 1950's Rwandan social logics have been shaped by massive movements of population in and out of the country. My argument thus being that the cyclical movements of exile and return fashion the logics of Rwandan reconciliation so that it can only be fully understood when considering its extraterritorial dimensions. Accordingly, in the frame of this thesis, I try to discover the meaning of reconciliation rom below", by taking an interest in individual actors who engage for what they consider to be reconciliation. By focusing on individual militants of reconciliation, this thesis explores the meanings with which they invest it. This micro-perspective indicates that while they conceive reconciliation as an engagement to transform social relations, they ultimately seize it it re exive terms. Through their various forms of engagement, they put the accent on the necessity to reconcile with oneself.