(?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)
Philip Gourevitch

“Genocide, after all, is an exercise in community building. A vigorous totalitarian order requires that the people be invested in the leader's scheme, and while genocide may be the most perverse and ambitious means to this end, it is also the most comprehensive. In 1994, Rwanda was regarded in much of the rest of the world as the exemplary instance of chaos and anarchy associated with collapsed states. In fact, the genocide was the product of order, authoritarianism, decades of modern political theorizing and indoctrination, and one of the most meticulously administered states in history. And strange as it may sound, the ideology–or what Rwandans call "the logic"–of genocide was promoted as a way not to create suffering but alleviate it. The specter of an absolute menace that requires absolute eradication binds leader and people in a hermetic utopian embrace, and the individual–always an annoyance to totality–ceases to exist.”

Philip Gourevitch, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
Read more quotes from Philip Gourevitch


Share this quote:
Share on Twitter

Friends Who Liked This Quote

To see what your friends thought of this quote, please sign up!


This Quote Is From

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families by Philip Gourevitch
36,165 ratings, average rating, 2,301 reviews
Open Preview

Browse By Tag