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More than 1100 Human Remains from the former German colony in East Africa exist in the anthropological collection of the Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Berlin. Mainly without any information about who these individuals were, how they died and in which manner they got dislocated, a collaboration of researchers of the University of Rwanda, the National Museums of Rwanda and the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz approached these questions. The research begins with the broader context of colonialism and its local impact to single cases of Human Remains appropriation. Using historical sources, anthropological examinations and comtemporary accounts the origin of the Human Remains were not only recontextualized but interviews conducted in the affected communities also revealed why these human remains should be returned and the variying ways of treatment they should receive thereafter.
This book addresses emancipatory narratives from two main sites in the colonial world, the Indian and southern African subcontinents. Exploring how love and revolution interrelate, this volume is unique in drawing on theories of affect to interrogate histories of the political, thus linking love and revolution together. The chapters engage with the affinities of those who live with their colonial pasts: crises of expectations, colonial national convulsions, memories of anti-colonial solidarity, even shared radical libraries. It calls attention to the specific and singular way in which notions of ‘love of the world’ were born in a precise moment of anti-colonial struggle: a love of the world for which one would offer one’s life, and for which there had been little precedent in the history of earlier revolutions. It thus offers new ways of understanding the shifts in global traditions of emancipation over two centuries.
""Lawfare" describes the systematic use and abuse of legal procedure for political ends which, in post-genocide Rwanda, contributed to the making of dictatorship. Jens Meierhenrich explains how and why Paul Kagame's Tutsi-led government in the period 1994-2019 learned to substitute law for war in its consolidation of authoritarian rule"--
The first general theory of the influence of norms—moral, legal and social—on genocide and mass atrocity. How can we explain—and prevent—such large-scale atrocities as the Holocaust? In Unconscionable Crimes, Paul Morrow presents the first general theory of the influence of norms on genocide and mass atrocity. After offering a clear overview of norms and norm transformation, rooted in recent work in moral and political philosophy, Morrow examines numerous twentieth-century cases of mass atrocity, drawing on documentary and testimonial sources to illustrate the influence of norms before, during, and after such crimes. Morrow considers such key explanatory pathways as the erosion of mo...
This volume sheds new light upon the role of victims in the aftermath of violence. Victims are central actors in transitional justice, the politics of memory and conflict resolution, yet the analysis of their mobilisation and political influence in these processes has been neglected. After introducing and explaining the reasons for this limited interest, the book’s chapters focus on a range of settings and draw on different disciplines to offer insights into the interrelated themes of victimhood – victims, their individual and collective identities, and their role in and impact upon post-conflict societies – and the politics of victimhood – meaning how victimhood is defined, negotiated and contested, both socially and politically. Because it outlines a stimulating research agenda and challenges the view that victims are passive or apolitical, this interdisciplinary volume is a significant contribution to the literature and will be of interest to scholars from disciplines such as law, anthropology, political science, human rights, international studies, and to practitioners.
The book describes a number of Rwandan post-genocide initiatives aiming at developing a common sense of identity in the population and addressing social, cultural and economic issues. This proactive approach indicates the will of the Rwandan government with the cooperation of social actors to resort to traditional - and in some cases precolonial - cultural practices to resolve the problems of nation-building. The essays are well documented; many of them based on empirical studies.
Winner, Prix Pierre Lafue Winner, Prix lycéen du livre d’histoire des Rendez-vous de l’histoire de Blois In the archives of the main institution in charge of the history and memory of the genocide in Rwanda, several bundles of fragile little school notebooks contain, in the silence of accumulated dust, the stories of around a hundred surviving children. Written in 2006 at the initiative of a Rwandan survivors’ association, as a testimonial and psychological catharsis, these accounts by children who have since become young men and women tell the story of their experience of the genocide, as well as of “life before” and “life after.” The words of these children, the cruel realis...
A History of Rwanda: From the Monarchy to Post-genocidal Justice provides a complete history of Rwanda, from the precolonial abanyiginya kingdom, through the German and Belgian colonial periods and subsequent independence, and then the devastating 1994 genocide and reconstruction, right up to the modern day. Based on extensive archival research, this book provides new insights and corrects many popular stereotypes about Rwanda, aiming to go beyond the polarized and heated debates focused on the genocide and the events that followed. Readers will get a clear and broad picture of Rwanda’s history and the social and political contexts that have defined the county from the pre-colonial period ...
The book investigates the politics of education in pre- and post-genocide Rwanda, examining the actors, interests, and discourses that have historically influenced educational policy and practice and in particular the production and revision of history curricula and textbooks.This study combines a systematic historical and comparative analysis of curricula and textbooks in Rwanda, stakeholder interviews, classroom observations, and a large-scale investigation of pupils' understandings of the country's history. Written at a crucial time of transition in Rwanda, it illuminates the role of education as a powerful means of socialisation through which dominant discourses and related belief systems have been transmitted to the younger generations, thus moulding the nation. It outlines emergent challenges and possibilities, urging a move away from the use of history teaching to disseminate a conveniently selective official history towards practices that promote critical thinking and reflect the heterogeneity characteristic of Rwanda's post-genocide society.
The myths of peace and democracy in Africa are at the heart of this volume. Democracy and peace have become buzz words across postcolonial Africa. The gospel of democracy and peace is preached by national governments and by civil society and international organisations alike. But to what extent are the ongoing sideshows and charades of quasi-oligarchies in Africa really democracy? What do ordinary Africans mean when they hunger and thirst for democracy and peace? Positive and noble as the loud sounding rhetoric about democracy and peace in Africa might seem, the reality of propaganda and dissemblance and of multi-dimensional violence are simply too overwhelming not to be disillusioning. This...