We present another thought-provoking issue of the International Journal of Conflict and Reconciliation

The Editorial Board is pleased to present the second issue of volume 1. The first issue was well received and we continue to receive articles for publication from scholars within the USA and those abroad that cover conflict and reconciliation issues within the Global North and South.

This second issue of volume 1 has a strong lead article that focuses on research of global concern: how best to understand political events. It appears that new areas of conflict burst onto the world scene, before old ones are anywhere near being solved. Takeshi Wada's discussion of the late Charles Tilly's contribution to understanding 'political events' is important in continuing the work of the great sociologist. Wada writes in honor of his former Ph.D. advisor and collaborator. Charles Tilly was the Joseph L. Buttenwieser Professor of Social Science at Columbia University and died in 2008 while still very active within academia and a strong mentor to many. The legacy of such scholars lives on not only in their publications but also in the future work they inspire among students and colleagues. Tilly contributed to many disciplines including Sociology, Political Science, Philosophy, History and Demography with his interest in understanding many issues: social movements, democratization, inequalities, historical processes, labor relations, human rights, quantitative and qualitative methodologies and of course what he called 'contentious politics'. Wada's article draws attention to Tilly's attempt to understand political events through the creation of a database that incorporates both quantitative and qualitative methods. We invite scholars with an interest in this field to continue the conversation that Wada has begun in this issue. We welcome other articles and comments in this line of research.

The remaining three articles in this issue are papers submitted from a symposium on the 1994 genocide in Rwanda held at the University of Missouri between the 26th and 28th of April, 2012. The Afro-Romance Institute in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures in conjunction with STEP UP! American Association for Rwandan Women organized the symposium. Of the many presentations, three were selected and peer-reviewed for this issue. The articles by Tim Gallimore, Dominique Payette and Tim Horner are introduced by Bea Gallimore, a member of the Institute and President of STEP UP!

Horner investigates the role of the Catholic Church and its teachings in the development of the Hutu movement that led to the deaths of over 800,000 individuals identified as Tutsi (and their Hutu sympathizers) in 1994. What Horner's work reveals are the historical and immediate social contexts and discourses within which the Catholic Church not only operated but, according to Horner, helped to construct.

Payette's paper provides an analysis of the media coverage in Canada of Leon Mugesera's extradition. Mugesera was accused of being a key player in the plans leading up to the genocide. Beyond her analysis of the media coverage, Payette's study points to larger issues including the ways in which Africa continues to be constructed as the unknowable 'other' for Western audiences. Both information and emotions are manipulated in an effort to perceive Africa as different.

Tim Gallimore's paper addresses an important issue in post-genocide Rwanda. While the nation is being hailed for its progress in economic development, critics, particularly members of the human rights community and the media, have attacked the official policy that prohibits genocide denying or constructing a genocide ideology. Gallimore takes these critiques head on arguing that yet again, Africa is being treated differently from its Western counterparts who had instituted holocaust laws after experiencing genocide.

The book reviews are by Wickersham, an educational psychologist and peace educator who works tirelessly against war and the nuclear threat, and Doug Hunt an English professor. Both are now retired from the University of Missouri.

Ibitola Pearce and Richard Hessler, Co-Editors
Department of Sociology
337 Middlebush Hall
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211
USA