The Cohesion of Oppression

Clientship and Ethnicity in Rwanda, 1860-1960

Author: Catharine Newbury
ISBN: 0231062567

Revolutions are often seen in terms of a spontaneous burst of intense political activity; less attention usually is given to the structures, processes, and perceptions that make such activity possible. This innovative book examines such long-term transformations as they relate to the revolution in the Central African nation of Rwanda, which culminated in its independence in July 1962. While much of the previous work on Rwanda has focused on the royal court and central state institutions, The Cohesion of Oppression instead focuses on politics outside the central heartland. Adopting a "view from below," it explores the interaction of central and local power bases and delineates the transformations introduced into the system by German and Belgian colonial policies that consciously sought to bolster one ethnic group as agents of colonial administration.In the three years before independence, violent conflict in Rwanda resulted in the abolition of the monarchy, the expulsion of the ruling T

Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publish Date: 1988

Subjects: History / Africa / General, Political Science / International Relations / General, Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Cross-Cultural Center (Location: Africa AFRC)