The Banyamulenge Soldier: Genocide between Congo and Rwanda
The Banyamulenge Soldier: Genocide between Congo and Rwanda
by Christopher P. Davey
University of Michigan Press, 2025
ISBNs
Cloth: 978-0-472-07769-4
Paper: 978-0-472-05769-6
eISBN: 978-0-472-90529-4 (OA)
About the Book
The Banyamulenge Soldier offers a critical analysis of combatant experiences from within the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and subsequent armed groups through the interpretation of Banyamulenge soldier narratives. Banyamulenge young men joined the RPF and acted as foot soldiers in the RPF’s fight against the genocidaire in 1994 and later conflicts, becoming active agents of conflict in the region up to the present. In examining the highly political discourse and stories around the Rwandan conflict and Congo wars, this book examines RPF memory, the evolution of its uses of violence, and how these memories have shaped Banyamulenge combatants.
Challenging the preconceived perpetrator and victim categories with a forward-thinking approach using the concept of genocide narrative identity—meaning a narrative identity shaped by experiences of social destruction or uses of genocide as a concept—Christopher P. Davey reveals how the stories we tell about ourselves shapes who we are. He shows that Banyamulenge experiences of genocide between Congo and Rwanda are layered around agencies of victimhood and perpetration of genocide. Using soldier and other community narratives, Davey examines the subjective nature of genocide in perception of an event, strategic deployment of the label, and in the (re)shaping of social worlds inhabited by this community and therefore impacting others in Congo and Rwanda. The Banyamulenge Soldier offers an insider view of the historical dynamics of current conflicts in South Kivu while adding to our understanding of relational genocide theory.
Challenging the preconceived perpetrator and victim categories with a forward-thinking approach using the concept of genocide narrative identity—meaning a narrative identity shaped by experiences of social destruction or uses of genocide as a concept—Christopher P. Davey reveals how the stories we tell about ourselves shapes who we are. He shows that Banyamulenge experiences of genocide between Congo and Rwanda are layered around agencies of victimhood and perpetration of genocide. Using soldier and other community narratives, Davey examines the subjective nature of genocide in perception of an event, strategic deployment of the label, and in the (re)shaping of social worlds inhabited by this community and therefore impacting others in Congo and Rwanda. The Banyamulenge Soldier offers an insider view of the historical dynamics of current conflicts in South Kivu while adding to our understanding of relational genocide theory.
About the Author
Christopher P. Davey is a Lecturer in Political Science at Binghamton University.
Reviews
“This challenging, rewarding scholarship considers the prolonged violence that has occurred in Rwanda and the Congo since the 1990s. It is a commendable social-psychological analysis of one genocide. Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals; general readers.”
— P. G. Conway, Choice“By delving into the Banyamulenge’s experiences The Banyamulenge Soldier convincingly unveils the complexities of the concept of genocide, the multidirectional violence it entails and the importance of considering the subjective experiences and interaction with violence and atrocities, going beyond conventional victim-perpetrator paradigms.”— Flavia Gasbarri, King’s College London
“The Banyamulenge Soldier adds significantly to the African Studies literature and to the literature on genocide as well as the literature on Central Africa.”— Robert Hitchcock, University of New Mexico
Tags
Ethnic Conflict: Studies in Nationality, Race, and Culture, Atrocities, 1994-, Military life, Congo (Democratic Republic), Rwanda, Civil War 1994, Tutsi (African people), African, Relations, Foreign relations, Psychology, World, Social conditions, Politics and government, Political Science, History
Open Access Information
License: CC BY-NC
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