Conceptualizing a Developmental State in Post-genocide Rwanda

Presenter Information

Simbarashe Runyowa, Oberlin College

Location

Science Center, K209

Document Type

Presentation

Start Date

4-24-2015 4:00 PM

End Date

4-24-2015 5:30 PM

Abstract

In writing about postcolonial African states that have been economically successful under undemocratic regimes, western scholars have sustained the trope that casts African leaders as tactless dictators. Using post-genocide Rwanda as a case study, I argue that it is both possible and useful to conceptualize that genus of African state through the prism of the east Asian developmental state archetype. More specifically, I argue that the socio-political context that emerged in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide created a set of political incentives for policymakers to facilitate the creation of a developmental state.

Notes

Session 3, Panel 19 - By Any Other Name: The Complexities of Ascription
Moderator: Kristina Mani, Associate Professor of Politics

Major

Politics

Advisor(s)

Kristina Mani, Politics

Project Mentor(s)

Darko Opoku, Africana Studies

April 2015

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Apr 24th, 4:00 PM Apr 24th, 5:30 PM

Conceptualizing a Developmental State in Post-genocide Rwanda

Science Center, K209

In writing about postcolonial African states that have been economically successful under undemocratic regimes, western scholars have sustained the trope that casts African leaders as tactless dictators. Using post-genocide Rwanda as a case study, I argue that it is both possible and useful to conceptualize that genus of African state through the prism of the east Asian developmental state archetype. More specifically, I argue that the socio-political context that emerged in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide created a set of political incentives for policymakers to facilitate the creation of a developmental state.