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Life after Violence: A People's Story of Burundi
Burundi has recently emerged from twelve years of devastating civil war. Its economy has been destroyed and hundreds and thousands of people have been killed. In this book, the voices of ordinary Burundians are heard for the first time.
Farmers, artisans, traders, mothers, soldiers and students talk about the past and the future, war and peace, their hopes for a better life and their relationships with each other and the state. Young men, in particular, often seen as the cause of violence and war, talk about the difficulties of living up to standards of masculinity in an impoverished and war-torn society.
Weaving a rich tapestry, Peter Uvin pitches the ideas and aspirations of people on the ground against the theory and assumptions often made by the international development and peace-building agencies and organisations. In doing this, he illuminates both shared goals and misunderstandings. This groundbreaking book on conflict and society in Africa will have profound repercussions for development across the world.
Farmers, artisans, traders, mothers, soldiers and students talk about the past and the future, war and peace, their hopes for a better life and their relationships with each other and the state. Young men, in particular, often seen as the cause of violence and war, talk about the difficulties of living up to standards of masculinity in an impoverished and war-torn society.
Weaving a rich tapestry, Peter Uvin pitches the ideas and aspirations of people on the ground against the theory and assumptions often made by the international development and peace-building agencies and organisations. In doing this, he illuminates both shared goals and misunderstandings. This groundbreaking book on conflict and society in Africa will have profound repercussions for development across the world.
224 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2008
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August 25, 2014So this is the most useful book I could find about Burundi, (of the seven the library held.) It's essentially the summary of several hundred in-depth interviews conducted with Burundians in 2006 or so, delving into their opinion and experiences on everything from their personal life stories to their political opinions, worldviews and hopes and ambitions for the future. I expect the main criticism might be the synthesis Uvin does, boiling down hundreds of interviews into a few pages of a kind of national barometer on different issues - that interpretation is probably going to look a lot more debatable to those that know that society.
The picture that does come across is complex and difficult, but not without optimism. Peace, education and women's rights are preceived in complex and significant ways. One thing that struck me, and echoes what I know from Israel, is the importance of free movement and travel as a component of peace. It reinforces my sense that this is more than a bourgeouise whinging, but a deep aspect of the way people in conflict feel about their personal safety and their neighbours.
On that note, the attitude that Burundians have towards their recent past and conflict strikes me, as an Israeli, as disturbingly and almost obnoxiously healthy and positive. (And utterly foreign.) I almost instincitively don't trust the idea that the public sentiment towards ethnic conflict might be to move on, let sleeping dogs lie, and accept blame and responsibility as being evenly spread around. It will be interesting to see what we can learn from that.
The picture that does come across is complex and difficult, but not without optimism. Peace, education and women's rights are preceived in complex and significant ways. One thing that struck me, and echoes what I know from Israel, is the importance of free movement and travel as a component of peace. It reinforces my sense that this is more than a bourgeouise whinging, but a deep aspect of the way people in conflict feel about their personal safety and their neighbours.
On that note, the attitude that Burundians have towards their recent past and conflict strikes me, as an Israeli, as disturbingly and almost obnoxiously healthy and positive. (And utterly foreign.) I almost instincitively don't trust the idea that the public sentiment towards ethnic conflict might be to move on, let sleeping dogs lie, and accept blame and responsibility as being evenly spread around. It will be interesting to see what we can learn from that.
June 14, 2021
Burundi. Interviews with actual Burundians regarding the end of their 12 year civil war. The researchers asked questions such as “if you were in charge, what would you do?” and “ What type of person do you want to marry.” The most amazing thing to me was that the majority thought no one should be punished for the war, since they felt they were all responsible. Burundi is a country in central Africa near Tasmania and Rwanda.
March 19, 2020
Read the world: Burundi
Useful book to understand the average Burundian people - their understanding of life, peace, past, future. Uvin's research provided a sort of forum for the neglected segment of the Burundian society, as poor and uneducated people aren't really permitted to express their viewpoints. It's an academic book, but still captures the heart of the people. Liked it.
Useful book to understand the average Burundian people - their understanding of life, peace, past, future. Uvin's research provided a sort of forum for the neglected segment of the Burundian society, as poor and uneducated people aren't really permitted to express their viewpoints. It's an academic book, but still captures the heart of the people. Liked it.
March 19, 2013
I read this a while ago, and just now have been reading an account of Liberia during its civil war, so it seemed like a good idea to post what I had written at the time.
This is a scholarly study presented in an approachable fashion, which surveyed Burundians and their attitudes a couple of years after the cessation of the civil war there, which occurred on and off for fifteen years, and included genocidal actions between the Tutsi and Hutu tribe members, comparable to the experience in Rwanda.
This study was not to determine what had happened in the past, but to assess attitudes that exist post-conflict. The survey was done with a questionnaire (which is reproduced in parts but not in whole in the book) and focus group and one on one interviews. There are lots of quotes from interviewees, which enhance the book a lot.
After a brief summary of Burundian political history and a chapter on methodology, the book covers the following topics:
What does Peace mean – the response is broader than Safety (absence of conflict) and also comprises basic needs being met and “good relations”. (By contrast, Uvins is quite critical of the UN, which he describes as regarding peace simply as the UN itself not being literally under fire.)
What would I do if I were in charge – the strongest complaint corruption in government, and the need for government to meet basic needs. This also includes an interesting discussion of bashingantahe, essentially a local respected elder (man), with position earned through behavior, who operated at the neighborhood (colline) level. While they do not have any legal authority per se, there is a lot of interest in re-instituting this indigenous role, even though the government wants it gone.
Hard work and capitalism – there is a sense that capitalism is driving out former mutual help values. Overall everyone values hard work and perseverance, and encourages education (the government is now supporting universal elementary education) but that despite this, the people who succeed do so because of corruption. Uvins, in my view, goes off base here a bit – argues that donors think that poverty only exists in the rural areas, not in the cities, hence does not support the latter. (In my experience Uvins is quite wrong-headed about this – of course there is poverty in the cities, but also a lot more opportunities, and the idea of rural support is to keep people from streaming into the cities.)
Changing gender expectations – this is particularly interesting. Manhood and womanhood are essentially measured by marriage, and young men are traditionally married at about 21, women at 18. Given the poorer prospects post-war, a lot of surviving young men do not see that they will ever have the resources to build a house, and then marry. Not surprisingly there are a lot of unmarried, now older women who will not have the prospect of marriage, but an uncertain status based on traditional chaste expectations for women. There is an increasing amount of co-habitation in lieu of marriage, and men indicate that they are looking for a “ dynamic” wife, i.e., one who will share responsibilities and be a real life partner ,so spousal respect and cooperation seem to be on the rise. Education is also increasingly relied upon as an outlet for women.
Justice, silence, and social capital – overall the population does not feel that there is much benefit to either prosecutions of war criminals or to truth forums – in general there seems to be the view that there is fault all around, and it would be better for people to get on with their lives. Atrocities are regarded as having occurred out of fear. The exception to the no-prosecution may be high leaders, as politicians are regarded as responsible for the fighting. Transitional justice is not sought, in large part because Burundians see themselves as having moved beyond ethnicity and division.
This is a scholarly study presented in an approachable fashion, which surveyed Burundians and their attitudes a couple of years after the cessation of the civil war there, which occurred on and off for fifteen years, and included genocidal actions between the Tutsi and Hutu tribe members, comparable to the experience in Rwanda.
This study was not to determine what had happened in the past, but to assess attitudes that exist post-conflict. The survey was done with a questionnaire (which is reproduced in parts but not in whole in the book) and focus group and one on one interviews. There are lots of quotes from interviewees, which enhance the book a lot.
After a brief summary of Burundian political history and a chapter on methodology, the book covers the following topics:
What does Peace mean – the response is broader than Safety (absence of conflict) and also comprises basic needs being met and “good relations”. (By contrast, Uvins is quite critical of the UN, which he describes as regarding peace simply as the UN itself not being literally under fire.)
What would I do if I were in charge – the strongest complaint corruption in government, and the need for government to meet basic needs. This also includes an interesting discussion of bashingantahe, essentially a local respected elder (man), with position earned through behavior, who operated at the neighborhood (colline) level. While they do not have any legal authority per se, there is a lot of interest in re-instituting this indigenous role, even though the government wants it gone.
Hard work and capitalism – there is a sense that capitalism is driving out former mutual help values. Overall everyone values hard work and perseverance, and encourages education (the government is now supporting universal elementary education) but that despite this, the people who succeed do so because of corruption. Uvins, in my view, goes off base here a bit – argues that donors think that poverty only exists in the rural areas, not in the cities, hence does not support the latter. (In my experience Uvins is quite wrong-headed about this – of course there is poverty in the cities, but also a lot more opportunities, and the idea of rural support is to keep people from streaming into the cities.)
Changing gender expectations – this is particularly interesting. Manhood and womanhood are essentially measured by marriage, and young men are traditionally married at about 21, women at 18. Given the poorer prospects post-war, a lot of surviving young men do not see that they will ever have the resources to build a house, and then marry. Not surprisingly there are a lot of unmarried, now older women who will not have the prospect of marriage, but an uncertain status based on traditional chaste expectations for women. There is an increasing amount of co-habitation in lieu of marriage, and men indicate that they are looking for a “ dynamic” wife, i.e., one who will share responsibilities and be a real life partner ,so spousal respect and cooperation seem to be on the rise. Education is also increasingly relied upon as an outlet for women.
Justice, silence, and social capital – overall the population does not feel that there is much benefit to either prosecutions of war criminals or to truth forums – in general there seems to be the view that there is fault all around, and it would be better for people to get on with their lives. Atrocities are regarded as having occurred out of fear. The exception to the no-prosecution may be high leaders, as politicians are regarded as responsible for the fighting. Transitional justice is not sought, in large part because Burundians see themselves as having moved beyond ethnicity and division.
January 7, 2016
Returned to this book again recently, as the "after violence" aspect of this title seems less and less applicable in today's Burundi. I found and still find this a helpful book for understanding a number of societal trends in post-peace accord Burundi. In hindsight, a number of the issues tackled by the book can be read from a new perspective.
Uvin consolidates the results of 388 2-hour, in-depth interviews with a cross-section of Burundians: men, women, youth, returnees, IDPs, former combatants, rural, urban, mostly poor or very poor. The narrative brings these interviews to life, delving into Burundians' perspectives on peace, governance, rural-urban movement, justice, and what makes for "good relations" in society. He devotes a lot of time to examining changing gender norms -- increases in unofficial marriage and the challenges of living out traditional definitions of masculinity; vulnerability of widows; increasing importance women's education; changes in patterns of spousal respect and cooperation... Interestingly, many of the 'positive' changes observed, including women's increased decision-making power, are framed as survival adaptations in response to deep poverty.
Uvin consolidates the results of 388 2-hour, in-depth interviews with a cross-section of Burundians: men, women, youth, returnees, IDPs, former combatants, rural, urban, mostly poor or very poor. The narrative brings these interviews to life, delving into Burundians' perspectives on peace, governance, rural-urban movement, justice, and what makes for "good relations" in society. He devotes a lot of time to examining changing gender norms -- increases in unofficial marriage and the challenges of living out traditional definitions of masculinity; vulnerability of widows; increasing importance women's education; changes in patterns of spousal respect and cooperation... Interestingly, many of the 'positive' changes observed, including women's increased decision-making power, are framed as survival adaptations in response to deep poverty.
October 4, 2024
So this book is of limited interest, it largely focuses on a series of interviews with Burundians asking what they thought of peace, war, ethnicity etc...
You should know all about Burundian modern history and the Civil War, because its not going to explain much of the contours of the conflict to you, and much of what they say isn't going to make a lot of sense without understanding popular feelings about Ndadaye, Ikiza, UPRONA, etc....
So this isn't any use to a casual reader, anyone who hasn't read half a dozen books on Burundi, and even many researchers might not find this useful to their work... so kudos to the author for his thorough work, but this wasn't too useful for me.
You should know all about Burundian modern history and the Civil War, because its not going to explain much of the contours of the conflict to you, and much of what they say isn't going to make a lot of sense without understanding popular feelings about Ndadaye, Ikiza, UPRONA, etc....
So this isn't any use to a casual reader, anyone who hasn't read half a dozen books on Burundi, and even many researchers might not find this useful to their work... so kudos to the author for his thorough work, but this wasn't too useful for me.
August 7, 2016
A very insightful and useful empirical study of understanding what average Burundians think about their lives, future, and peace. There is something for everyone to learn even if you have never been to Burundi. It gave me a lot of food for thought throughout the book. Recommended reading for conflict resolution, peacebuilding and development experts or wannabes.
December 15, 2012
Great book, super helpful and informative. Really helps illuminate the Burundian context.
September 19, 2013
Great research, but not the best literature. Recommended for students of modern Burundi more than those who want a narrative history
July 23, 2016
Quick read. Provides interesting insight into ordinary peoples views after the Burundian civil war. It also helps you understand the current political situation better.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews