Politics of Innocence (Paperback)

Simon Turner

ISBN 10: 0857456091 / ISBN 13: 9780857456090

Published by Berghahn Books, Oxford, 2012

About this Item

Paperback. Based on thorough ethnographic fieldwork in a refugee camp in Tanzania this book provides a rich account of the benevolent disciplining mechanisms of humanitarian agencies, led by the UNHCR, and of the situated, dynamic, indeterminate, and fluid nature of identity (re)construction in the camp. While the refugees are expected to behave as innocent, helpless victims, the question of victimhood among Burundian Hutu is increasingly challenged, following the 1993 massacres in Burundi and the Rwandan genocide. The book explores how different groups within the camp apply different strategies to cope with these issues and how the question of innocence and victimhood is itself imbued with ambiguity, as young men struggle to recuperate their masculinity and their political subjectivity. Based on thorough ethnographic fieldwork in a refugee camp in Tanzania this book provides a rich account of the benevolent "disciplining mechanisms" of humanitarian agencies, led by the UNHCR, and of the situated, dynamic, indeterminate, and fluid nature of identity (re)construction in the camp. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780857456090

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Politics of Innocence (Paperback)
• Publisher: Berghahn Books, Oxford
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0857456091
• ISBN 13: 9780857456090
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Based on thorough ethnographic fieldwork in a refugee camp in Tanzania this book provides a rich account of the benevolent “disciplining mechanisms” of humanitarian agencies, led by the UNHCR, and of the situated, dynamic, indeterminate, and fluid nature of identity (re)construction in the camp. While the refugees are expected to behave as innocent, helpless victims, the question of victimhood among Burundian Hutu is increasingly challenged, following the 1993 massacres in Burundi and the Rwandan genocide. The book explores how different groups within the camp apply different strategies to cope with these issues and how the question of innocence and victimhood is itself imbued with ambiguity, as young men struggle to recuperate their masculinity and their political subjectivity.

About the Author

Simon Turner is a senior Researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies. He has worked on the conflict in Burundi, doing ethnographic fieldwork among refugees and the Diaspora in East Africa and Europe. He has published on masculinity, Diaspora and conflict, sovereignty and public authority, and refugee relief work.