Militarisation of governance after conflict: beyond the rebel-to-ruler frame – the case of Rwanda

Purdeková, Andrea; Reyntjens, Filip; Wilén, Nina

doi:10.1080/01436597.2017.1369036

Cited by 38 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…He recounted how even before the President announced his intention to run for a third term, people were anticipating what he might do, thus creating anxiety but also an anticipation of change, stimulating hope that the Burundian people could prevent it from happening. In other words, it was not an inevitable fact that he would run for a third term or that he would succeed, in contrast to the case in many neighbouring countries, where room for open critique of powerholders is more limited (Purdeková, Reyntjens & Wilén 2018). Indeed, 'before the President announced his intention to run for the presidential elections, everyone was asking themselves what would happen.…”

Section: Crisis Anxiety and Hope In Burundimentioning

confidence: 99%

Hope against hope: changing emotions in the Burundian crisis

Turner

2020

Royal Anthropological Inst

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Through the lens of Burundians who have been displaced by the recent crisis in Burundi and their anticipations of possible futures for themselves and their country, expressed in the emotions of hope, anxiety, and despair, this article explores the shift from a situation characterized by upheaval towards the crystallization of authoritarian rule in Burundi. Drawing on ethnographic research amongst Burundian refugees in Rwanda, I examine how these individuals negotiate such uncertain and unpredictable circumstances as well as how emotions of hope, anxiety, and despair change accordingly. I argue that the political closure in Burundi has produced a gradual shift from productive anxiety in the Kierkegaardian sense towards despair and a feeling of existential closure. In such situations, when uncertainty gives way to a certainty that there are no futures, the present becomes detached from the flow of time and decisions become impossible to make. The Burundians in Rwanda can only live for the moment and hope against hope, often evoking a distinction between their hopelessness as human beings and the hope that they are compelled to have as Christians. Since the 2000s, anthropologists have shown an increasing interest in studying futures, as opposed to the anthropological emphasis on memories (Bryant & Knight 2019; Pels 2015). For instance, Appadurai (2004) calls for anthropology to 'repatriate' aspirations to the domain of culture. The anthropology of futures has focused on aspirations (Appadurai 2004), potentialities (Vigh 2008), and hope (Crapanzano 2003; Kleist & Jansen 2016; Miyazaki 2005). A common argument within this focus on futures is that the actions of individuals and groups are not simply the products of their pasts, as people also act according to perceived potential futures. The literature on hope often takes its point of departure from situations of uncertainty, arguing that uncertainty not only produces precarity and 'stuckness' , but also carries with it the potential for alternative futures and therefore produces hope (Cooper & Pratten 2015; Pedersen 2012; Turner 2015). In my own work among Burundian clandestine refugees in Nairobi in the early 2000s, I explored a situation of indeterminacy and uncertainty that engendered hope and aspirations, as opposed to the refugee camps that they had left, where certainty crushed all hope (Turner 2015). In this article, I expand upon the themes of uncertainty and hope by exploring how the present crisis in Burundi is constantly shifting between uncertainty and certainty as well as how emotions

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Section: Crisis Anxiety and Hope In Burundimentioning

confidence: 99%

Hope against hope: changing emotions in the Burundian crisis

Turner

2020

Royal Anthropological Inst

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“…Whereas externally funded DDR/SSR programmes emphasize the ‘narrative beginnings’ of (global) civilization originating from Europe (Shilliam, 2012: 112), the RPF mobilizes ancient Rwandan myths of origin to describe Rwanda’s long history of civilization, while at the same time promoting contemporary myths about Rwandan collective belonging to position the military and militarized soldier-citizens at the centre of developmental progress. As Purdeková et al (2018) observe, and as Rwandan military historian and former RPF brigadier general Frank Rusagara wrote in 2009, the ‘process of Ku-aanda ’ saw the expansion of the Rwandan state through military conquests, but also the alleged consolidation of Rwandans and ‘Rwandaness’ or ‘Rwandicity’, as ‘loose and unstable’ clan groups merged into military formations. The military institution is mythologized in Rusagara’s discourse as ‘an indispensable characteristic of the social order’ in the face of ‘predatory’ strong neighbouring kingdoms (Rusagara, 2009: 9).…”

Section: Case Study: Ddr/ssr In Rwandamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, scholars have examined the imaginative/discursive dimension of Rwanda’s DDR/SSR programme. Jowell (2014) and Purdeková et al (2018) consider how narratives about Rwanda’s history have been leveraged by the RPF to transition from rebel to ruler; to restructure and transition the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) into a modern, Rwandan military; and to remilitarize Rwandan society. However, these studies present macro-level analyses that do not account for how gendered power relations operate at the micro level of both the imaginative/discursive and the material/practical projects of DDR/SSR initiatives.…”

Section: Peacebuilding Interventions and Rebuilding The Gender Ordermentioning

confidence: 99%

The masculine logic of DDR and SSR in the Rwanda Defence Force

Duriesmith

Holmes

2019

Security Dialogue

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Since the 1994 genocide and civil war, the Rwandan government has implemented an externally funded disarmament, demobilization and reintegration/security sector reform (DDR/SSR) programme culminating in the consolidation of armed groups into a new, professionalized Rwanda Defence Force. Feminists argue that DDR/SSR initiatives that exclude combatant women and girls or ignore gendered security needs fail to transform the political conditions that led to conflict. Less attention has been paid to how gendered relations of power play out through gender-sensitive DDR and SSR initiatives that seek to integrate women and transform hyper-masculine militarized masculinities. This article investigates how Rwanda’s DDR/SSR programme is governed by an oppressive masculine logic. Drawing on critical studies on men and masculinities and feminist work on peacebuilding, myths and the politics of belonging, it argues that Rwanda’s locally owned DDR/SSR programme places the military and militarization at the centre of the country’s nation-building programme. Through various ‘boundary-construction’ practices, the Rwandan government attempts to stabilize the post-1994 gender order and entrench the hegemony of a new militarized masculinity in Rwandan society. The case study draws on field research conducted in 2014 and 2015 and a discourse analysis of historical accounts, policy documents and training materials of the Rwanda Defence Force.

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“…Though in reality these governments have built elements of what most observers would recognise as military professionalism, some scholars identify the ethos and culture of military struggle and command in the contemporary politics in Rwanda, for example (Purdekova et al 2018). Some of these states have used this model's approach to civil-military relations to adapt to changing circumstances in the global economy.…”

Section: New Models Of Civil-military Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting the Civil-Military Conundrum in Africa

2020

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The military is a central component of the state and society with implications for statehood and social stability. Since independence, Africa has grappled with contentious and contradictory roles of armed forces whether they be part of or against the state. Much of the early scholarship on the role of the military tended to paint a positive picture, presenting it as a critical pillar and an agent of modernisation for the newly independent states. This was to change drastically in the era of routine and rampant coups d'états and proliferation of organised rebel activities. But the continent has undergone significant changes since the end of the Cold War. This introduction highlights some of the major changes at the centre of transformations in relations between African militaries and civilian authorities and the public. The overall focus of the introduction, and the entire special issue, is to reposition the theoretical and conceptual aperture for analysing civil-military relations in Africa.

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Militarisation of governance after conflict: beyond the rebel-to-ruler frame – the case of Rwanda

Cited by 38 publications

References 27 publications

Hope against hope: changing emotions in the Burundian crisis

Hope against hope: changing emotions in the Burundian crisis

The masculine logic of DDR and SSR in the Rwanda Defence Force

Revisiting the Civil-Military Conundrum in Africa

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