Introductory description

This module provides students with the theoretical and conceptual tools to analyse the root causes of, and the motivations for, violence in eastern Africa. Students will explore the different theoretical understandings of conflict and evaluate their applicability to a range of specific cases of violence. The module also provides students with an understanding of the various mechanisms of transitional justice and reconciliation efforts implemented in the region and they will critically assess the contribution of these efforts to current and future peace and stability. The specific cases covered include Rwanda, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, and Kenya.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Term 1:

1. Understanding Ethnicity and Violence
2. Understanding Conflict: Grand narratives and local struggles
3. Northern Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army
4. Rwanda: Genocide and its causes
5. Eastern Congo: From Genocide to continental war?
6. Reading week
7. Sudan: Civil war, oil and secession
8. Kenya I: Multi-party elections and political violence 1992-1997
9. Kenya II: Multi-party elections and political violence 2007-2023
10. Violence in comparative perspective
    Term 2:
11. Transitional Justice and Reconciliation: Tools and Theories
12. Rwanda I: The international criminal tribunal
13. Rwanda II: Justice 'on the grass' and the case of gacaca
14. Rwanda III: The politics of remembering and forgetting
15. The ICC in Africa
16. Reading week
17. Traditional Justice Mechanisms: Ritual and mato oput in Northern Uganda
18. Truth commissions in comparative perspective
19. Constitutional Reform
20. From Transitional to Transformative Justice?

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Understand and apply different theories of mass violence (including social, cultural, materialist and instrumental approaches) to different empirical case studies
• Consider and explain motivations of violence, the relevance of political systems and political instrumentalism, and the significance of international dimensions (including intervention) in different contexts
• Critically assess different reconciliation efforts and analyse their contribution to current and future peace and stability
• Compare the causes of violence and the strengths and weaknesses of different reconciliation efforts in different contexts
• Use a range of sources, including secondary literature, newspaper articles, and government and non-government reports

Indicative reading list

Term 1:

1. Understanding Ethnicity and Violence
   Lynch, G. (2018) Ethnicity in Africa. In Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of African History. Oxford: Oxford University Press
   Mamdani, M. (1996) Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of late Colonialism. Princeton: Princeton University Press (Chapters 2 & 3)
   Galtung, J. (1969) Peace, and Peace Research. Journal of Peace Research 6 (3): 167-191
2. Understanding Conflict: Grand narratives and local struggles
   Chua, A. (2004) World on Fire: How exporting free market democracy breeds ethnic hatred and global instability. London: Arrow Books
   Collier, P. & A. Hoeffler (2004) Greed and Grievance in Civil War. Oxford Economic Papers 56: 563-595
   Elbadawi, E. & N. Sambanis (2000) Why Are There So Many Civil Wars in Africa? Understanding and Preventing Violent Conflict. Journal of African Economies 9(3): 244-269
   Mamdani, M. (2002) African States, Citizenship and War: A case-study. International Affairs 78 (3): 493–506
3. Northern Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army
   Jackson, P. (2002) The march of the Lord’s Resistance Army: Greed or grievance in northern Uganda? Small wars and Insurgencies 13 (3): 29-52
   Titeca, K., & Costeur, T. (2015). An LRA for everyone: How different actors frame the Lord's Resistance Army. African Affairs, 114(454), 92-114.
4. Rwanda: Genocide and its causes
   Hintjens, H. (1999) Explaining the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda. The Journal of Modern African Studies 37 (2): 241-286
   Mamdani, M. (2001) When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism and the Genocide in Rwanda. Oxford: James Currey
5. Eastern Congo: From Genocide to continental war?
   Autesserre, S. (2008) The Trouble with Congo. Foreign Affairs, 87(3): 94 - 110
   Kisangani, E. F. (2012) Civil Wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1960-2010. Lynne Rienner Publishers
6. Reading week
7. Sudan: Civil war, oil and secession
   Deng, L. B. (2010) Social capital and civil war: The Dinka communities in Sudan’s civil war. African Affairs 109 (435): 231-250
   Medani, K. M. (2011) Strife and secession in Sudan. Journal of Democracy 22 (3): 135-149.
   Suliman, M. (1993) Civil war in the Sudan: From ethnic to ecological conflict. Ecologist 23 (3): 104-109
8. Kenya I: Multi-party elections and political violence 1992-1997
   Ajulu, R. (2002) Politicised Ethnicity, Competitive Politics and Conflict in Kenya: A Historical Perspective. African Studies 61 (2): 251-268.
   Kagwanja, P. (2001) Politics of Marionettes: Extra-legal Violence and the 1997 Elections in Kenya. In M. Rutten, A. Mazrui & F. Grignon (eds) Out for the Count: The 1997 Elections & Prospects for Democracy in Kenya. Kampala: 72-100.
9. Kenya II: Multi-party elections and political violence 2007-2023
   Cheeseman, Nic, Lynch, Gabrielle, & Justin Willis (2014) Democracy and its discontents: The Kenyan elections of 2013. Journal of Eastern African studies
   Chege, M. (2008) Kenya: back from the brink?. Journal of Democracy 19 (4): 125-139
   Mutahi, P., & Ruteere, M. (2019). Violence, security and the policing of Kenya’s 2017 elections. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 13(2), 253-271.
   Ruteere, Mutuma (2011) More than political tools: The police and post-election violence in Kenya. African Security Review 20 (4): 11-20
10. Violence in comparative perspective
    Return to readings from previous weeks (particularly week 2) and assess the benefits and weaknesses of applying particular theoretical approaches to different conflicts.
    Term 2:
11. Transitional Justice and Reconciliation: Tools and Theories
    Bosire, L. K. (2006) Overpromised, Underdelivered: Transitional Justice in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sur - International Journal on Human Rights 5: 71-107
    Daly, E. (2002) Transformative Justice: Charting a path to reconciliation. International Legal Perspectives 12
12. Rwanda I: The international criminal tribunal
    Nsanzuwera, F. (2005) The ICTR contribution to national reconciliation. Journal of International Criminal Justice 3 (4): 944-949.
    Peskin, Victor (2005) Beyond Victor’s Justice? The challenge of prosecuting the winners at the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Journal of Human Rights 4 (2): 213-231
13. Rwanda II: Justice 'on the grass' and the case of gacaca
    Clark. P. (2010) The Gacaca Courts and Post-Genocide Justice and Reconciliation in Rwanda: Justice without Lawyers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
    Daly, E. (2002) Between Punitive Justice and Reconstructive Justice: the Gacaca Courts in Rwanda. New York University Journal of International Law and Politics 34: 355-396
14. Rwanda III: The politics of remembering and forgetting
    Breed, A. (2008) Performing the nation: Theatre in post-genocide Rwanda. The Drama Review 52 (1): 22-50
    Mgbako, C. (2005) Ingando solidarity camps: Reconciliation and political indoctrination in post-genocide Rwanda. Harvard Human Rights Journal 201
15. The ICC in Africa
    Branch, A. (2007) Uganda’s civil war and the politics of ICC intervention. Ethics and International Affairs 21 (2): 179-198
    Lugano, G. (2017) Counter-shaming the International Criminal Court’s intervention as neocolonial: Lessons from Kenya. International Journal of Transitional Justice 11 (1): 9-29
16. Reading week
17. Traditional Justice Mechanisms: Ritual and mato oput in Northern Uganda
    Allen, T. (2008) Ritual (ab)use? Problems with traditional justice in Northern Uganda. In Waddell, N. & P. Clark (eds) Courting Conflict? Justice, Peace and the ICC in Africa. London: Royal African Society
    Anyeko, K. et al (2011) ‘The Cooling of Hearts’: Community Truth-Telling in Northern Uganda. Human Rights Review 13 (1): 107-124
18. Truth commissions in comparative perspective
    Mamdani, M. (2002) Amnesty or Impunity? A preliminary critique of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa. Diacritics 32 (3-4): 33-59
    Stanley, E. (2001) Evaluating the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Journal of Modern African Studies 39 (3): 525-546
19. Power-sharing
    Cheeseman, N. & B. Tendi (2010) Power-sharing in comparative perspective: The dynamics of ‘unity government’ in Kenya and Zimbabwe. Journal of Modern African Studies 48 (2): 203-229
    Mehler, A. (2009) Peace and Power Sharing in Africa: A Not So Obvious Relationship. African Affairs 108: 453–73
20. From Transitional to Transformative Justice?
    Gready, P. (2005) Reconceptualising transitional justice: Embedded and distanced justice. Conflict Security and Development 5 (1): 3-21
    Lambourne, W. (2009) Transitional Justice and Peace-Building after Mass Violence. International Journal of Transitional Justice 3 (1): 28-48

Subject specific skills

TBC

Transferable skills

The module provides students with opportunities to acquire or develop the following key skills:

Synthesis of different materials
Critical analysis
Oral presentation
Writing