Whispering Truth to Power: Everyday Resistance to Reconciliation in Postgenocide Rwanda - Africa and the Diaspora (Paperback)

Susan Thomson (author)

£27.95

Paperback 256 Pages / Published: 30/11/2013

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Synopsis

For 100 days in 1994, genocide engulfed Rwanda. Since then, many in the international community have praised the country's post-genocide government for its efforts to foster national unity and reconciliation by downplaying ethnic differences and promoting ""one Rwanda for all Rwandans"". Examining how ordinary rural Rwandans experience and view these policies, Whispering Truth to Power challenges the conventional wisdom on post-genocide Rwanda.

Susan Thomson finds that many of Rwanda's poorest citizens distrust the local officials charged with implementing the state programme and believe that it ignores the deepest problems of the countryside: lack of land, jobs, and a voice in policies that affect lives and livelihoods. Based on interviews with dozens of Rwandan peasants and government officials, this book reveals how the nation's disenfranchised poor have been engaging in everyday resistance, cautiously and carefully-""whispering"" their truth to the powers that be. This quiet opposition, Thomson argues, suggests that some of the nation's most celebrated post-genocide policies have failed to garner the grassroots support needed to sustain peace.

Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
ISBN: 9780299296742
Number of pages: 256
Weight: 408 g
Dimensions: 226 x 152 x 20 mm

MEDIA REVIEWS

An important attempt to uncover the attitudes of the rural population to the government s remodeling of Rwanda. Georgina Holmes, Journal of Modern African Studies
"
Thomson s research methods and creative engagement with these issues open new lines of inquiry and should inspire both critical review and emulation. Highly recommended for college, university, and major public library systems and those specializing in politics, international affairs, and African studies. J. P. Smaldone, Choice
"
This intriguing, sophisticated book probes the subtle ways that Rwanda s poorest peasants have resisted government policies to promote post-genocide reconciliation. Choice
"
Thomson shows how Paul Kagame s version of national reconciliation is designed not merely to forge a united Rwanda but also to control its citizens, shape the country s history in a self-serving manner, and ensure Kagame s hold on power. Foreign Affairs
"
Besides its methodological merits, this book s strength lies in the rich ethnographic data that allow us to gain insights into peasants attitudes beyond the official rhetoric of unity and reconciliation. African Affairs
"
Analyzes peasants everyday resistance strategies to Rwanda s National Policy of Unity and Reconciliation, shedding light on how state power interacts with everyday life in the politically tense context of postgenocide Rwanda. Through its bottom-up perspective, the book is an important and innovative contribution to the literature on this intensely researched country. African Studies Review"
"Provides a rich discussion of the contemporary Rwandan context, giving voice to people who are largely excluded from public discussions of Rwanda. A much-needed corrective to the cheery presentation of Rwanda in the popular press."--Timothy Longman, author of Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda
"An important attempt to uncover the attitudes of the rural population to the government's remodeling of Rwanda."--Georgina Holmes, Journal of Modern African Studies

"Thomson's research methods and creative engagement with these issues open new lines of inquiry and should inspire both critical review and emulation. Highly recommended for college, university, and major public library systems and those specializing in politics, international affairs, and African studies."--J. P. Smaldone, Choice

"This intriguing, sophisticated book probes the subtle ways that Rwanda's poorest peasants have resisted government policies to promote post-genocide reconciliation."--Choice

"Thomson shows how Paul Kagame's version of national reconciliation is designed not merely to forge a united Rwanda but also to control its citizens, shape the country's history in a self-serving manner, and ensure Kagame's hold on power."--Foreign Affairs

"Besides its methodological merits, this book's strength lies in the rich ethnographic data that allow us to gain insights into peasants' attitudes beyond the official rhetoric of unity and reconciliation."--African Affairs

"Analyzes peasants' everyday resistance strategies to Rwanda's National Policy of Unity and Reconciliation, shedding light on how state power interacts with everyday life in the politically tense context of postgenocide Rwanda. Through its bottom-up perspective, the book is an important and innovative contribution to the literature on this intensely researched country."--African Studies Review