This book explores the state in post-genocide Rwanda through an ethnography of a state-run civic education program and everyday forms of government.
In 2007, the Rwandan government introduced a nationwide civic education program, called Itorero, to teach all inhabitants about its vision of the model Rwandan citizen. Since then, this ideal has been pursued through remote training camps, village assemblies, and daily government practices. Based on ethnographic research of the life and workings of Itorero camps and the day-to-day administration of a local neighborhood in Kigali, this book investigates how such a pursuit has come to affect Rwandans' relation to the state and what it may tell us about modern forms of authoritarian rule.

Autorentext

Molly Sundberg is Researcher and Lecturer in the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology at Uppsala University, Sweden. She previously worked for the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) in Stockholm and Rwanda.

Klappentext
This book provides an ethnography of a state-run civic education program based in a local neighborhood in Rwanda. In 2007, the Rwandan government launched a nationwide program, called Itorero, to teach all inhabitants about its vision of the model Rwandan citizen. Today, this ideal is pursued through remote training camps, village assemblies, and everyday forms of government. Based on ethnographic research of the life and workings of Itorero camps and the daily government of a local neighborhood in Kigali, this book asks how such a pursuit has come to affect Rwandans' relation to the state and what it may tell us about modern forms of authoritarian rule.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. Itorero Today and Yesterday: Making and Remaking Rwanda.- 3. Rwanda and Rwandans in the Post-Genocide Political Imaginary.- 4. Local Voices on Rwanda and Rwandans.- 5. Model Citizens in the Making: Government as Designed.- 6. Manufacturing Model Citizens: Governing in Everyday Encounters.- 7. Securing Rwanda: A Fearful Civic Duty.- 8. Realizing the Development Vision 2020.- 9. Searching for the Prerequisites of Acceptance.