"Atrocity cannot be its own explanation. Violence cannot be allowed to speak for itself, for violence is not its own meaning. To be made thinkable it needs to be historicized."

Rather than focus too much on the actual horrors of the genocide (which many many other writers have), Mamdani's goal is to put the genocide in a historical context-- to make it thinkable. The only way we can understand violence, create accountability and justice, and to prevent future violence is to make it thinkable.
Mamdani's book is not an introductory text. If you don't know much about the Rwandan genocide I would strongly recommend familiarizing yourself with some basic history first. Dense but critically sharp, this book demands your attention but can also be overwhelming with information.
One of the major key points in this book is the difference between race and ethnicity, and cultural vs political identities. Mamdani distinguishes race as being a mutually exclusive categorization of indigenous vs nonindigenous, which was a colonial construct imposed on ethnic (cultural) groups when Europe carved up Africa. Ethnicity, too, is a troubling category when politicized.

Mamdani calls for a creative solution that transcends binary labels on inherently dynamic identities--Hutu and Tutsi, indigenous and nonindigenous, majority and minority, perpetrator and victim. He calls for not victor's justice, but survivor's justice (different from revolutionary justice, which does not fit the context of Rwanda) that goes beyond individual accountability to institutions.

"The prerequisite to life is not power. The prerequisite to cohabitation, reconciliation, and a common political future is to give up the monopoly of power."

I think this is a very valuable addition to the study of the production of cultural identities (political, economic, cultural, etc.). In this and in [b:Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism|66422|Citizen and Subject Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism|Mahmood Mamdani|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348766604l/66422._SY75_.jpg|1041722], I find Mamdani to be a very clear writer, though in this book I think some points were kind of repetitive in an unproductive way. Mamdani is really just super well equipped to understand this, and I really appreciate the insight he brought into developments in the Congo, Uganda, Burundi, etc., which are often left out in other accounts of the genocide (I'm thinking of [b:We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families|11472|We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families|Philip Gourevitch|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442723264l/11472._SY75_.jpg|888905] in particular, which is good, but not as geographically comprehensive). It's the kind of international awareness which I think is so often missing from historical accounts (especially in so-called "area studies"), and which Mamdani in many ways champions here. Interesting.

When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda by Mahmood Mamdani (2002)

Understanding the facts surrounding this absolute atrocity does not make comprehending it any less difficult, but it is important for any hope at "never again".

We may agree that genocidal violence cannot be understood as rational; yet, we need to understand it as thinkable.