Women And War In Rwanda: Gender Media And The Representation Of Genocide Hardcover

Georgina Holmes

The 1994 genocide in Rwanda, which followed the death of President Habyarimana, was one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the twentieth century and shamed both African and global leaderships. As wars in the Congo continue to tear apart the region, this book examines how the politics that led to the 1994 genocide continue to be played out in the international media. Scholars of political science contend that narratives are used strategically by states to influence and shape the behaviour of other actors in the international system. This book explore how, through processes of denial and revisionism, strong states with geopolitical interests in the Great Lakes region of Africa, African states directly involved in conflict, militia groups and rebels, as well as human rights activists and NGOs, all employ media narratives strategically with the aim of influencing political decision-making and public perceptions of genocide and war.Examining how international political discourse on the 1994 genocide in Rwanda is gendered, Georgina Holmes argues that states, militaries and human rights organisations use gendered narratives for political gain, and breaks new ground in analysing the role of gender in the conflict. This book is essential reading on the gendered dynamics of conflict and genocide in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo and will appeal to anyone with an interest in Gender Studies, Political Communication, Media and Film Studies, African Studies, Genocide Studies and International Relations.

1780763476

9.78178E+12

English

I.B.Tauris and Co. Ltd.

12/18/2013

304

Georgina Holmes holds a PhD in International Relations from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and a JD specialising in public relations. She is an Honorary Research Associate in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London.

In this carefully researched work, Georgina Holmes sets out a series of fundamental challenges: to media presenters and reporters about their knowledge and professionalism; to feminist (and other) theorists about the roles of women as both victims and agents; to politicians about their attitudes and behaviour with respect to the threat and actuality of genocide; and to civil society as a whole regarding issues of race, international relations, and Africa. In this study of women, genocide, and war in Rwanda there are critical lessons for all of us.' Ken Booth, FBA, AcSS. Director, David Davies Memorial Institute of International Studies; Senior Research Fellow, Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University, "Georgina Holmes takes up a very important discussion of how gender can be used as an enabler of different agendas in political warscapes" - Jill Trenholm, Senior Lecturer, Uppsala University, 'When read as a set of case studies of gender, media representations, and violent conflict, this book is highly compelling. Holmes deftly analyzes how media of the Global North represent African women in ways that depict them as helpless victims without any agency. Her examination of the BBC s various news programs representation of the conflicts in the African Great Lakes and genocide in Rwanda is well grounded in primary sources and clearly connected to relevant international relations literature...Scholars of gender and media, conflict in Africa, and feminist international relations will find this book stimulating and informative. Scholars specializing in the African Great Lakes region may also find the book helpful as a reliable source of information about international and regional media reporting on or operating in Rwanda and eastern Congo between 1990 and 2011.' --Jennie E. Burnet, African Studies Quarterly, Volume 15, Issue 3, June 2015