Training for Model Citizenship

Training for Model Citizenship

Molly Sundberg Training for Model Citizenship An Ethnography of Civic Education and State- Making in Rwanda

Molly Sundberg Uppsala University Uppsala Sweden ISBN 978-1-137-58421-2 ISBN 978-1-137-58422-9 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-58422-9 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016936097 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identified as the author(s) of this work in accord-ance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. London

To Jonas and Ellis

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book is a product of many minds and helping hands. They include, first of all, the persons in Kigali who generously shared with me their knowledge, views, and daily undertakings. They constitute the foundation of this text as well as continued friendships, I hope. 1 My two research assistants were indispensable for my fieldwork. Their sensitivity and sharpness carried the project forward, and their constructive attitude made the work enjoyable and interesting in ways I could not have foreseen. I also want to thank the staff members of the Itorero Taskforce and the National Commission for Unity and Reconciliation for voluntarily taking me in and facilitating my study of Itorero, although I offered little in return. They helped with everything from obtaining my research permission to finding transport between training sites, and, especially, allowing me insight into their work, knowledge, and views of the Itorero program. I also thank Professor Paul Rutayisire at the National University of Rwanda for offering to be my academic liaison in Rwanda. His contact was mediated by the Swedish International Development Agency, the agency through which I first came in contact with Rwanda and the Itorero program. My experience from Sida has greatly enriched my understanding of development and development cooperation. My sincerest thanks to the editors at Palgrave Macmillan, who helped in transforming the manuscript into a book. I am also deeply grateful for 1 The names of all persons mentioned, except for widely known political figures, have been changed for the sake of preserving their anonymity. vii

viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS the constructive critique by the anonymous reviewer of an earlier version of this book. As the following chapters are based on my doctoral research, I am greatly indebted to the following persons have contributed with constructive critique of earlier versions of this book: Anne Kubai, Henning Melber, Ivana Maçek, Simon Turner, Erin Zink, Anna Baral, Gabriella Körling, Elina Ekoluoma, Beniamin Knutsson, Giorgio Blundo, Filip De Boeck, Thomas Bierschenk, and Marc-Eric Gruénais. The fieldwork in Rwanda was made possible through funding from the Nordic Africa Institute, the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography, and the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology at Uppsala University. Sten Hagberg and Sverker Finnström at Uppsala University for their support and guidance as my PhD supervisors, as well as to Johan Pottier, the discussant of my dissertation. My deepest thanks to Anna Berglund for her invaluable support during fieldwork, and to Kimmo Eriksson and his colleagues at the Centre for the Study of Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University, who offered me a second research home while back in Sweden. Last but not least, I am deeply grateful for the love, encouragement and intellectual support of my family, especially my partner, Jonas Binnmyr, and my mother, Elisabeth Lindberg. I dedicate this book to Jonas and to our son, Ellis. Ellis, you were born while I was finishing this book, and therefore you will always be a special part of it.

CONTENTS 1 Introduction 1 2 Itorero Today and Yesterday: Making and Remaking Rwanda 37 3 Rwanda and Rwandans in the Post- Genocide Political Imaginary 63 4 Local Voices on Rwanda and Rwandans 99 5 Model Citizens in the Making: Government as Designed 131 6 Manufacturing Model Citizens: Governing in Everyday Encounters 165 7 Securing Rwanda: A Fearful Civic Duty 183 8 Realizing the Development Vision 2020 219 ix

x CONTENTS 9 Searching for the Prerequisites of Acceptance 255 References 265 Index 267