Making Ubumwe: Power, State and Camps in Rwanda’s Unity-Building Project

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.

Reviews of Making Ubumwe: Power, State and Camps in Rwanda’s Unity-Building Project

"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