Political Invisibility: Rescue Acts by Mothers during the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda

ABSTRACT This article draws upon interviews with 50 Rwandan mothers who risked their lives to save others during the 1994 genocide. We position our study within a growing body of research examining women’s engagement in resistance movements, and we theorize rescue efforts by mothers during genocide as a case of political invisibility. Specifically, our findings show how mothers were able to capitalize on their political invisibility in strategic ways that shaped the form of the rescue. We posit that political invisibility may have insulated mothers from recruitment to the genocidal movement due to their occupation of the domestic sphere, since killing group members often knew these women were taking care of the home and engaging in domestic activities. We further highlight the care work (e.g., sheltering, feeding, supporting, calming, and managing emotions) that was foundational to these women’s rescue endeavors. Taken together, this article invites readers to walk through two secret doors that sociologists rarely have access to: actions tied to clandestine resistance and the private sphere of domestic care work during genocide.