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

"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."--Publisher's description Dedication -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- A Glimpse into the World of Itorero -- Ethnographic Spaces -- Paths of Inquiry -- Contemporary Research on Rwanda -- Leta: The Rwandan State -- Intore: The Model Rwandan Citizen -- Toward an Anthropology of Authoritarianism? -- Authoritarian Modes of Government as Modern-ƯDay Governmentality -- Rationalities and Technologies: Tracing the Liberal in the Authoritarian -- Experiences of Exposure -- Looking Beyond the Self and the State -- Chapter Outline -- References -- Chapter 2: Itorero Today and Yesterday: Making and Remaking Rwanda -- Precolonial Rwanda: "The Surface Occupied by a Swarm or a Scattering"--Colonial Rwanda: Of "Hamites" and "Bantu" -- Independence: From Race to Ethnicity -- The War, the Genocide, and its Aftermath -- Post-Conflict Interventions at Home and Abroad -- Toward a New Political Culture -- Itorero ry'Igihugu: Objectives, Structure, and Implementation -- Itorero ry'Igihugu for Special Target Groups -- Itorero ry'Igihugu in Schools -- Itorero ry'Igihugu in the Neighborhoods and Villages -- Civic Education in Rwanda -- Itorero, the Child of Ingando -- Summary -- References -- Chapter 3: Rwanda and Rwandans in the Post-ƯGenocide Political Imaginary -- The Royal Legacy: Key Norms in Rwandan Historicity -- Narrating Rwanda's History: A Story of Three Eras -- The Golden Era -- The Dark Ages -- The Renaissance -- The Soldier Identity: Military Heritage in the Historical Narrative -- Roots of the Soldier Identity -- The Genocide as the "Battle We Won" -- Mono-Ethnicism as Symbol of National Unity -- The RPF as Norm -- Modernity in Focus: Intore as Breaking with the Past -- Defining the New Model Citizen: King, Rebel, and "Family" Member -- Crisis of Memory -- Fetishizing the State -- Intore: A Citizen and Subject 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. Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction....Pages 1-35 Itorero Today and Yesterday: Making and Remaking Rwanda....Pages 37-62 Rwanda and Rwandans in the Post-Genocide Political Imaginary....Pages 63-98 Local Voices on Rwanda and Rwandans....Pages 99-129 Model Citizens in the Making: Government as Designed....Pages 131-163 “Manufacturing” Model Citizens: Governing in Everyday Encounters....Pages 165-181 Securing Rwanda: A Fearful Civic Duty....Pages 183-217 Realizing the Development Vision 2020....Pages 219-254 Searching for the Prerequisites of Acceptance....Pages 255-264 Back Matter....Pages 265-276