Aiding Violence: The Development Enterprise in Rwanda - Softcover

Uvin, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1565490835 ISBN 13: 9781565490833

Publisher: Kumarian Press, 1998

Synopsis

* Winner of the African Studies Association’s 1999 Herskovits Award
* A boldly critical look at structural violence relating to the 1994 Rwanda genocide

Aiding Violence expresses outrage at the contradiction of massive genocide in a country considered by Western aid agencies to be a model of development. Focusing on the 1990s dynamics of militarization and polarization that resulted in genocide, Uvin reveals how aid enterprises reacted, or failed to react, to those dynamics. By outlining the profound structural basis on which the genocidal edifice was built, the book exposes practices of inequality, exclusion, and humiliation throughout Rwanda.

About this title

About the Author

Peter Uvin is the Henry J. Leir Professor of International Humanitarian Studies at the Fletcher School, Tufts University. He received his doctorate in international relations from the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales, University of Geneva. He has been a Research Associate Professor at the Watson Institute of International Affairs, Brown University, and has taught at New Hampshire College and the Graduate School of Development Studies, Geneva. For the last 20 years, he has worked periodically in Africa as a development practitioner and consultant, recently collaborating with UNDP, the OECD, and Belgian, Dutch, Danish, and British bilateral agencies. His book, Aiding Violence: The Development Enterprise in Rwanda, won the 1999 African Studies Association Herskovits Award for the most outstanding book on Africa.

Review

"A very well researched, well-thought through, astonishing, most upsetting book about the 1994 Rwanda genocide. This book should be obligatory for anybody, African as well as non-African, concerned with the continent."

"This book should be read by everyone involved in development. For those with some knowledge of Rwanda, reading it is nothing short of a cathartic experience. Much of what Peter Uvin has distilled so carefully and passionately from the Rwandan experience is also painfully relevant for other parts of the world."

"Paradigm-rocking... simply must be required reading for anyone who desires to set foot in an African nation, no matter how noble or lofty their goals."

"An invaluable anatomy of the way development aid to Rwanda before the genocide contributed to what took place - essential reading for anyone with a tender conscience and a strong stomach."

Edition details

• Publisher: Kumarian Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1565490835
• ISBN 13: 9781565490833
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 288