Aiding Violence: The Development Enterprise in Rwanda [Paperback]

Peter Uvin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1998

* Winner of the African Studies Association’s 1999 Herskovits Award
* A boldly critical look at structural violence relating to the 1994 Rwanda genocide

Aiding Violence expresses outrage at the contradiction of massive genocide in a country considered by Western aid agencies to be a model of development. Focusing on the 1990s dynamics of militarization and polarization that resulted in genocide, Uvin reveals how aid enterprises reacted, or failed to react, to those dynamics. By outlining the profound structural basis on which the genocidal edifice was built, the book exposes practices of inequality, exclusion, and humiliation throughout Rwanda.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A very well researched, well-thought through, astonishing book...obligatory for anybody concerned with the continent [of Africa]." -- Johan Galtung Director, TRANSCEND

About the Author

Peter Uvin is the Henry J. Leir Professor of International Humanitarian Studies at the Fletcher School, Tufts University. He received his doctorate in international relations from the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales, University of Geneva. He has been a Research Associate Professor at the Watson Institute of International Affairs, Brown University, and has taught at New Hampshire College and the Graduate School of Development Studies, Geneva. For the last 20 years, he has worked periodically in Africa as a development practitioner and consultant, recently collaborating with UNDP, the OECD, and Belgian, Dutch, Danish, and British bilateral agencies. His book, Aiding Violence: The Development Enterprise in Rwanda, won the 1999 African Studies Association Herskovits Award for the most outstanding book on Africa.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Kumarian Press (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565490835
• ISBN-13: 978-1565490833
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #252,371 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #38 in Books > History > Africa > Rwanda

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Was the development industry complicit?, December 11, 2003

By 

rudiger (Hoople, ND) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aiding Violence: The Development Enterprise in Rwanda (Paperback)

Uvin's argument is not that aid workers in Rwanda participated in the genocide of 1994, nor even that they were accomplices in it. Rather, "AIDING VIOLENCE" contends that the development business--by the very nature of its mission--contributed to a state of severe inequity and "structural violence" that over many decades had made Rwanda fertile ground for widespread ethnic hatred leading to massive bloodshed.

It is the apolitical nature of aid, the author tells us, that plays into the hands of the killers and their ringleaders. The book is reminiscent of Ferguson's "ANTI-POLITICS MACHINE" in this way. Where Uvin's contribution is greatest is his ability to situate this discussion about the ramifications of "development" in the Rwandan context, with ample documentary support for his conclusions. He also isn't so naive as to think that the Rwandan genocide was somehow foisted on a passive population by an overpoweringly evil elite. Sure, they were evil, but the hundreds of thousands of Rwandans who took part in the violence had more reason to do so than simply because their leaders told them to.

This book will likely give you some serious doubts about the entire concept of development and just what it means anyway in a world rife with turmoil, inequality and discrimination. And that is precisely what Uvin intended it to do.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The opinionated review of Rwandan history is the best part, October 18, 2007

By 

Neurasthenic "neurasthenic" (New York City, New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Aiding Violence: The Development Enterprise in Rwanda (Paperback)

This book should be thought of as having three sections: First, an opinionated history of Rwanda, in which Ulvin shortcuts some highly politicized debates by simply stating his opinion as to, for example, the actual origin of the Hutu and Tutsi groups. This section continues through 1994, and is the strongest part of the book. Second, the book contains a long rumination of the complicity of nongovernmental organizations and aid groups in Rwanda's racial turmoil and genocide. This would have been a good three page discussion, here spread over about 90 pages. Finally, there is a sociological examination of the roots of the Rwandan genocide. Where Ulvin points out the weaknesses in popular theories, this is worthwhile. Unfortunately, too much reads like a college paper and contains little of value for a reader.

Overall, the history section redeems the book. The book is certainly useful for those interested in Rwanda, probably less useful to those interested in racial violence generally.