ETHNIC PLURALISM, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND INTEGRATION POLICY IN POST CONFLICT RWANDA

Like every war ravaged country, the Republic of Rwanda is reawakening to grapple with the challenges of post-conflict reintegration and transformation. To scholars and observers of the trend, Rwanda is recuperating at a very high speed due to socio-economic reforms and the apparent commitment of the Government of the country to rebuild a new Rwanda from the rubbles of the devastation that greeted the 1994 genocide. Expectedly, the Rwandan government generated laws and codes which govern social interaction – former ‘enemies’ that must co-habit. There is public ban on all divisionism tendencies. In Rwanda there should be no ‘Hutu’, ‘Tutsi’ or ‘Twa’. All are Rwandans. Indeed, there are sanctions against defaulters irrespective of their nationalities. The drive for identity reconstruction is fierce and the government of Rwanda is determined to obliterate the ethnic ideologies which it believes, reinforced the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. However, the questions to ask are: will suppression of ethnic identity effectively obliterate natural affinity for group relations and the right to cultural identification and association? How does the government policy against sectarianism help in the reintegration programmes in Rwanda particularly the traditional judicial option called the Gacaca? This paper seeks to address these questions based on the data collected from a field-work conducted in Rwanda in 2011 and from the observations of scholars of ethnicity and the Rwandan Crisis.

The Emotional Geographies of Being Stranded Due to COVID-19: A Poetic Autoethnography of an International Doctoral Student

This poetic critical autoethnography paper studies my own experiences of disrupted mobility as a Vietnamese doctoral student in New Zealand who was stuck in Vietnam. Through the lens of space and place, I investigate the issues of sense of belonging and sense of place that were reconfigured in different spaces. The article highlights my agency to reinforce and reconnect with my sense of belonging. As the article focuses on immobility, it challenges the mobility bias in international education scholarship, arguing that new forms of mobility can be produced out of immobility and that identity reconstruction can be enabled through respatialization.

Identity reconstruction among people with physical disabilities practising Race Running

The main aim of the article is to present the results of research concerning the reconstruction of the identity of people with disabilities who practice Race Running. In the scientific literature focused on disability, sport is presented as one of the important elements serving for the reconstruction of the identity of people with disabilities and their integration, inclusion with the surrounding social world. However, previous studies did not analyze in this context the role of Race Running, which is a niche, developing sport discipline. Therefore, this article fills a significant gap in the scientific literature dedicated to the role of sport in the reconstruction of the identity of people with disabilities by undertaking an analysis of sport, which has not been the subject of research so far. Starting from the concept of ‘pendulum’ developed by Karen K. Yoshida, the following article provides a model of identity reconstruction based on five processes: Socialising, Becoming independent, Exposing, Proving, Realizing. The conceptualization of this model is based on the results of qualitative research using the in-depth interview technique. The respondents were people with disabilities practicing Race Running in Poland, their family members and their coaches. The results of the research show not only the possibilities for people with disabilities, which comes with practicing Race Running, but also limitations, because the specificity and technical requirements of this sport mean that its benefits can only be used by people with a certain type of disability.

Conflits liés aux pratiques religieuses et conséquences chez les populations Ebrié d’Anono M’Badon et Blockhaus (Côte d’Ivoire)

Les Ebriés1 ont adopté les églises Harriste, Méthodiste et Catholique, devenues des patrimoines culturels religieux. En dépit du contrôle social mis en œuvre pour y maintenir les fidèles, nombreux sont les Ebrié, qui ont opté pour les églises Évangéliques, ce qui a occasionné des conflits à Anono, M’Badon et Blockhaus. Cette étude analyse les conflits liés aux pratiques religieuses et leurs conséquences dans lesdits villages. La méthodologie de recherche, essentiellement qualitative, s’appuie sur 30 personnes interrogées au moyen d’un guide d’entretien semi-directif et d’une grille d’observation. L’étude présente les résultats de terrain. Elle indique d’abord que les pratiques religieuses à Anono, M’Badon et Blockhaus sont le sceau d’une affiliation à des religions révélées et une fidélité à une tradition locale. L’article montre ensuite les conflits de leadership pour l’appropriation et la structuration sociale des espaces villageois, les conflits de perception des pratiques culturelles et christianisées. Enfin, l’étude explique les conséquences, dont la reconstruction identitaire (recomposition de la gouvernance politique, sociale et culturelle, rupture de la sociabilité familiale et communautaire) liées aux conflits dans ces espaces sociaux. The Ebriés adopted the Harrist, Methodist and Catholic churches, which became religious cultural heritages. Despite the social control implemented to keep the faithful there, many are the Ebrié, who opted for the Evangelical churches, which caused conflicts in Anono, M’badon and Blockhaus. This study analyzes the conflicts linked to religious practices and their consequences in the said villages. The research methodology, which is essentially qualitative, is based on 30 people interviewed using a semistructured interview guide and an observation grid. The study presents the results from the field. First, it indicates that the religious practices at Anono, M’badon and Blockhaus are the seal of an affiliation with revealed religions and a fidelity to a local tradition. The article then shows the leadership conflicts for the appropriation and social structuring of village spaces, the conflicts of perception of cultural and Christianized practices. Finally, the study explains the consequences, including identity reconstruction (recomposition of political, social and cultural governance, breakdown of family and community sociability) linked to conflicts in these social spaces.

A Literature Review of Online Identity Reconstruction

The tremendous development of the Internet enables people to present themselves freely. Some people may reconstruct their identity on the Internet to build an online identity that is partly or even completely different from their real identity in the offline world. Given that research on online identity reconstruction is fragmented, it is important to evaluate the current state of the literature. In this paper, a review of literature related to online identity reconstruction was conducted. This study summarized the theoretical and methodological preferences of relevant research. In addition, it elaborated why and how people engage in online identity reconstruction. The predictors and effects of online identity reconstruction were also discussed. The results of this study provided an overview of the thematic patterns of existing research. This review also identified current research gaps and recommended possible directions for future studies.

Facing dominant master narratives on gender and sexuality: Identity reconstruction of women in situations of inequality

The article is based on a conception of identity and self as a situated narrative construction in which memory plays a central role. To construct self-narratives, individuals internalise cultural master narratives in specific socio-cultural settings. For that reason, the analysis of self-identity needs to go beyond the individual to integrate interpersonal and socio-cultural levels, as well. Starting from this theoretical perspective, two studies of identity reconstruction of women facing situations of inequality and violence (lesbian women and women after gender-based violence) in Spain were examined. These two groups were confronted with gendered master narratives that place women in a subordinate situation. The two studies applied a similar methodology, based on the use of Bruner’s self-indicators. The analysis of the cases was focused on three issues: the dynamics of master versus alternative narratives in identity (re)construction and their relation to social reproduction and change, the need to consider the three levels of analysis (socio-cultural, interpersonal and individual) and the role of voice and silence in these processes. Finally, the involvement or memory in identity reconstruction was considered.

Reconstruction of Cliché Image of Oriental Woman in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West

This paper attempts to hold a mirror to the existential struggle of an immigrant Muslim woman who is trying to survive on her journey to the west. Mohsin Hamid presents Nadia as one of the main characters in his 2017 novel Exit West. The paradox concerning Nadia is that while her preference for wearing a long black robe confirms the western misconstrued image of Muslim women, her actions, her view of the world, of life and of herself definitely refute the ingrained eastern notion of the suppressed, submissive, silenced Muslim woman. According to the dominant western view, oriental women are still under the strict control of the mechanisms of patriarchy. Among the control mechanisms of patriarchal order are traditions, norms, values and religion. However, Nadia does not fall into this western miscategorization of Muslim woman with her strong, rebellious character, and with her freethinking and insight. Indeed, it is Nadia, who safeguards, directs and in a sense, matures Saeed’s-the other main character-rather timid and naïve personality. What is unexpected in the journey of these two characters is that the one who is need of identity reconstruction is not the female but the male character, for Nadia does already have a firmly constructed identity and she has no intention to transform either her outfit or her world view for the sake of integrating herself into the western culture. In brief, through the character of Nadia, Mohsin Hamid reconstructs the cliché image of oriental woman. In Exit West, Hamid reverses stereotyped gender roles by attributing his female character all the dominant personality traits attached to the male sex.