The Commodification of Genocide: Part II. A NeoGramscian Model for Rwanda
William R. Woodward, Jean-Marie VianneyHigiro

Abstract
In our previous paper, we did a qualitative content analysis of news reports disseminated by international media about events occurring in Rwanda. We grouped these reports into three themes: human rights, security, and foreign relations. Here we add our analysis of four more themes: Hutu menace in the Great Lakes, memorializing the victims, economic situation, and democracy. We argued that news coverage has been de-capitated by the ruling elite and that the western capitalist states have supported this co-optation. To gain access, Western journalists have had to cooperate with the state rather than with critical Rwandan journalists or even NGOs. This follow-up paper thus continues to expose alternatives to the dominant view in each thematic area. We introduce Celeste Condit’s NeoGramscian depiction of the subordinate or “unrepresented groups,” who in the name of “laws” of justice and through limited (because of the obvious danger) “civic support” dare to contest the dominant ideology. This ideology of Rwandan genocide has become a commodity marketed to the media, so much so that the non-dominant ideology of a civil war is suppressed. Then we adopt Dana Cloud’s NeoGramscian model that emphasizes the oppressive structural relations in the commodification, both economically and ideologically.

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