Making <i>Ubumwe</i>: Power, State and Camps in Rwanda's Unity-Building Project

Andrea Purdeková

Published by Berghahn Books 2015

Making Ubumwe

Power, State and Camps in Rwanda's Unity-Building Project

Andrea Purdeková

Volume 34 in the series Forced Migration

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781782388333

Overview
Contents

About this book

Since the end of the Rwandan genocide, the new political elite has been challenged with building a unified nation. Reaching beyond the better-studied topics of post-conflict justice and memory, the book investigates the project of civic education, the upsurge of state-led neo-traditional institutions and activities, and the use of camps and retreats shape the “ideal” Rwandan citizen. Rwanda’s ingando camps offer unique insights into the uses of dislocation and liminality in an attempt to anchor identities and desired political roles, to practically orient and symbolically place individuals in the new Rwandan order, and, ultimately, to create additional platforms for the reproduction of political power itself.

Author / Editor information

Andrea Purdeková is Senior Lecturer in Conflict and Security at the University of Bath. Prior to this she held a Departmental Lectureship in African Politics at the African Studies Centre, School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies, University of Oxford and a Junior Research Fellowship at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford.

Reviews

“This is a book that deserves to be widely read. [It] will appeal to both Rwanda and African Studies scholars and is a must-read for graduate students preparing to do ﬁeldwork in Rwanda. Scholars working in development studies, peace and conﬂict studies, comparative politics and cultural anthropology will be rewarded for a careful read.” • Journal of Modern African Studies

“Although the author focuses upon Rwanda’s unity-building project, she places her analysis within a wider social and political reflection. This makes the book a major contribution to the literature on contemporary Rwanda.” • African Affairs

“Against the backdrop of Rwanda’s complex post-genocide setting, Purdeková explores the unity-building attempts through which a ‘New Rwanda’ is being created. The visions and dominant ideology that underpin the national project, along with the strategies being deployed to achieve it, are addressed with rich detail and precision. This ethnographic study also offers a fine account of daily politics as lived by Kigali residents.” • Johan Pottier, SOAS, University of London

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Glossary Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Figure 1. Map of Rwanda indicating the location of ingando camps xiii visited during fieldwork Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Figure 2. A sketch of the Nkumba ingando camp Publicly Available Download PDF	xiv
Part I Introduction
1 Kubaka Ubumwe: Building Unity in a Divided Society Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
2 Settling the Unsettled: The Politics and Policing of Meaning in Rwanda Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	33
Part II The Political Process
3 The Wording of Power: Legitimization as Narrative Currency Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	61
4 The Presencing Effect: Surveillance and State Reach in Rwanda Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
5 Incorporation, Disconnect: The Embodiments of Power and the Unworking of Contestation in Rwanda Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
Part III: Making Ubumwe: The Imageries, Planning and Performances of Unity in Rwanda
6 Unity’s Multiplicities: Ambiguity at Work Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	133
7 Performances and Platforms: Activities of Unity and Reconciliation in the Contexts of Power Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	152
8 Ingando Camps: Nation Building as Consent Building Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	174
9 Rights of Passage: Liminality and the Reproduction of Power Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
Part IV Conclusions
10 The Yeast of Change: Civic Education, Social Transformation and the New Development Corps Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
11 What Kind of Unity? Prospects for Coexistence, Social Justice and Peace Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	244
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	251
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	275

Language: English
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 306
Keywords: Rwanda; Ingando Camps; Post-Conflict Reconciliation; Civic Education; Liminality; Rwandan Genocide

eBook

Published: October 1, 2015
ISBN: 9781782388333