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the
universit y
of
wisconsin
press
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all
2013
AFRICAN STUDIES / ANTHROPOLOGY / POLITICS
“Provides a rich discussion of the contemporary Rwandan context, giving
voice to people who are largely excluded from public discussions of
Rwanda. A much-needed corrective to the cheery presentation of Rwanda
in the popular press.”
—Timothy Longman, author of
Christianity and Genocide
in Rwanda
For 100 days in 1994, genocide engulfed Rwanda. Since then, many in the inter-
national community have praised the country’s postgenocide government for its
efforts to foster national unity and reconciliation by downplaying ethnic differ-
ences and promoting “one Rwanda for all Rwandans.” Examining how ordinary
rural Rwandans experience and view these policies,
Whispering Truth to Power
challenges the conventional wisdom on postgenocide Rwanda.
Susan Thomson finds that many of Rwanda’s poorest citizens distrust the local
officials charged with implementing the state program and believe that it ignores
the deepest problems of the countryside: lack of land, jobs, and a voice in policies
that affect lives and livelihoods. Based on interviews with dozens of Rwandan
peasants and government officials, this book reveals how the nation’s disenfran-
chised poor have been engaging in everyday resistance, cautiously and carefully—
”whispering” their truth to the powers that be. This quiet opposition, Thomson
argues, suggests that some of the nation’s most celebrated postgenocide policies
have failed to garner the grassroots support needed to sustain peace.
Susan Thomson
is assistant professor of peace and
conflict studies at Colgate University. She has published
articles in
African Affairs
,
African Studies Review
, and
The Journal of Modern African Studies
, and she also
serves as the Amnesty International–USA Country
Specialist for Rwanda and Burundi.
PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
NOVEMBER
LC: 2013010424 DT
256 PP. 6 × 9 8 B/W ILLUS., 2 MAPS
E-BOOK $21.95 S ISBN 978-0-299-29673-5
Africa and the Diaspora: History,
Politics, Culture
Thomas Spear, Neil Kodesh, Tejumola
Olaniyan, Michael G. Schatzberg, and
James H. Sweet, Series Editors
“Thomson makes it possible to get
behind the official script of Rwandan
national unity and reconciliation in
a way that few researchers are able
to do.”
—Catharine Newbury, Smith
College
Of re l at ed int e re s t
Edited by Scott Straus and Lars Waldorf
“There is still a steady flow of books
about the Rwandan genocide of 1994. But
Rwanda’s present circumstances have been
largely neglected. This edited volume is
perhaps the first serious attempt to assess
contemporary politics in Rwanda over the
course of the last decade.”—
Foreign Affairs
PUBLISHED MARCH 2011
LC: 2010038912 DT 403 PP. 6 × 9
3 TABLES, 3 CHARTS, 2 MAPS
E-BOOK $16.95 S ISBN 978-0-299-28263-9
Critical Human Rights
Dana Schmidt
