"The essays collected in this book follow a contemporary critical trend in the field of trauma studies that reflects comparatively on artistic and media representations of traumatic histories and experiences from countries around the world. Focusing on a diversity of art and media forms—including
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memorials, literature, visual and installation art, music, video, film, and journalism—they both apply dominant theories of trauma and explore the former’s limitations while bearing in mind other possible methodologies." (Publisher description)
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"GISWatch has three interrelated goals: surveying the state of the field of information and communications technology (ICT) policy at local and global levels; encouraging critical debate; strengthening networking and advocacy for a just, inclusive information society. Each year the report focuses on
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one particular theme. GISWatch 2009 focuses on access to online information and knowledge – advancing human rights and democracy. It includes several thematic reports dealing with key issues in the field, as well as an institutional overview and a reflection on indicators that track access to information and knowledge. There is also an innovative section on visual mapping of global rights and political crises. In addition, 48 country reports analyse the status of access to online information and knowledge in countries as diverse as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexico, Switzerland and Kazakhstan, while six regional overviews offer a bird’s eye perspective on regional trends." (Back cover)
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"What happens to people and the societies in which they live after genocide? How are the devastating events remembered on the individual and collective levels, and how do these memories intersect and diverge as the rulers of postgenocidal states attempt to produce a monolithic "truth" about the past
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? In this important volume, leading anthropologists consider such questions about the relationship of genocide, truth, memory, and representation in the Balkans, East Timor, Germany, Guatemala, Indonesia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, and other locales. Specialists on the societies about which they write, these anthropologists draw on ethnographic research to provide on-the-ground analyses of communities in the wake of mass brutality. They investigate how mass violence is described or remembered, and how those representations are altered by the attempts of others, from NGOs to governments, to assert "the truth" about outbreaks of violence. One contributor questions the neutrality of an international group monitoring violence in Sudan and the assumption that such groups are, at worst, benign. Another examines the consequences of how events, victims, and perpetrators are portrayed by the Rwandan government during the annual commemoration of that country's genocide in 1994. Still another explores the silence around the deaths of between eighty and one hundred thousand people on Bali during Indonesia's state-sponsored anticommunist violence of 1965-1966, a genocidal period that until recently was rarely referenced in tourist guidebooks, anthropological studies on Bali, or even among the Balinese themselves. Other contributors consider issues of political identity and legitimacy, coping, the media, and "ethnic cleansing." (Publisher description)
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"Deference and dissent strike a delicate balance in any polity. Insufficient deference to authority may incapacitate government, whereas too much may allow leaders to orchestrate mass violence. Although cross-national and cross-temporal variation in deference to authority and willingness to express
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dissent has long been studied in political science, rarely have scholars studied programs designed to change these aspects of political culture. This study, situated in post-genocide Rwanda, reports a qualitative and quantitative assessment of one such attempt, a radio program aimed at discouraging blind obedience and reliance on direction from authorities and promoting independent thought and collective action in problem solving. Over the course of one year, this radio program or a comparable program dealing with HIV was randomly presented to pairs of communities, including communities of genocide survivors, Twa people, and imprisoned génocidaires. Changes in individual attitudes, perceived community norms, and deliberative behaviors were assessed using closed-ended interviews, focus group discussions, role-play exercises, and unobtrusive measures of collective decision making. Although the radio program had little effect on many kinds of beliefs and attitudes, it had a substantial impact on listeners’ willingness to express dissent and the ways they resolved communal problems." (Abstract)
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"While there exists a wide range of material covering violence against women, very little scholarly attention has been paid to international media treatments of gendered violence. This volume addresses the gap by providing a broad overview of contemporary representations of gendered violence, enabli
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ng comparison and contrast in forms of violence and constructions of gender across a wide range of political and geographic contexts. From nonfictional accounts of the mass rapes during the Rwandan genocide to the sexual objectification of women in Serbian media and depictions of prostitute murders in the Chinese media, this book provides an overview of media representations of gendered violence around the globe. In addition to documenting specific challenges and shortcomings of mainstream representations, chapters present insight into the various forms of resistance and hope that exist in each particular area, and analytical essays open up new lines of inquiry by offering an assessment of the uneven changes that feminist activism has enabled around the world." (Publisher description)
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"During the past 15 years Central Africa, and specifically Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have been through devastating wars in which the media became actors. In 1993, some Burundese newspapers were described as ‘hate media’ and one year later Radio télévision mille coll
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ines (RTLM) in Rwanda became the first of those described as ‘death media’, preparing minds for genocide and helping in its implementation. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, in1998, certain newspapers took to inciting ethnic hatred and violence towards some Congolese citizens. By 2006, when this research was completed, these three countries were undergoing fragile peace processes and trying to rebuild themsleves. The media certainly have a major role to play in helping to soothe the hatred and move people from different communities back into dialogue. But how should the media sector be reorganized in countries where the media have contributed to killings? What is the best way to find a balance between freedom and control in a context where the microphone and the pen have been weapons of murder? This is one of the main issues that must be addressed by the communications regulatory bodies which have been established to support press freedom and to organize and monitor the media landscape." (Abstract)
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"In this classic of investigative journalism, Linda Melvern tells the compelling story of what really happened, revealing both the scale, speed and intensity of the unfolding genocide, as well as exposing the governments and individuals who could have prevented what was happening, if they had chosen
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to act. The book also tells the unrecognised heroism of those who stayed on during the genocide - from volunteer peacekeepers to courageous NGO workers. Twenty-five years on from one of the darkest episodes in modern history, A People Betrayed is a shocking indictment of how Rwanda was ignored then and how today it is remembered in the West." (Publisher description)
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"Les Rwandais et les Burundais ont une culture cinématographique et audiovisuelle captivante et centenaire. Elle a été introduite pendant l’époque coloniale allemande et est ensuite tombée dans les mains des Belges qui l’ont développée après. Au Rwanda/Burundi, ils produisaient des films
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marqués par le discours colonial. Au même moment, l’imaginaire des autochtones était imprégné par le cinéma du monde (la France, l’Italie, les Etats-unis, l’Inde, le Pakistan, l’Egypte…) qui n’était guère contrôlé. Cette liberté culturelle a perduré après l’indépendance. Ainsi, la population a été confrontée au cinéma comme une expression artistique mais aussi comme un instrument de propagande. Au début, la production de cinéma et de télévision servait aux différents régimes et présidents. Après le tournant du siècle et sous l’influence du processus de Paix, les médias se sont libéralisés, favorisant ainsi, avec la révolution numérique, la production audiovisuelle. Au Rwanda, le génocide a eu une influence particulière dans le foisonnement d’initiatives privées de productions audiovisuelles et cinématographiques. Dans ce livre, Guido Convents nous invite à découvrir différents aspects de la culture audiovisuelle burundaise et rwandaise: des réalisateurs, des distributeurs, des exploitants, des comédiens, mais aussi des spectateurs, le pouvoir politique, la société civile, et tant d’autres pions. Il jette un regard, non seulement sur les images produites par les Rwandais et les Burundais mais surtout sur le rôle qu’ils attribuent au cinéma et à l’audiovisuel en général, et en particulier dans le domaine de la Paix." (Description de la maison d'édition)
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"The volume begins with a general overview of faith-based peacebuilding by pastor and peace-practitioner David Steele. Several CRS staff members provided input on the early drafts [...] The case studies that follow all deal with initiatives involving Catholic actors. This is the tradition out of whi
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ch CRS functions, and within which it learns. However, CRS and its church partners frequently and intentionally act in tandem with other civil society organizations, and they cooperate with other faith-based actors. Two of the case studies in this work (one from Uganda and one from The Philippines) deal with inter-religious efforts, while a third (India) deals with a broad ecumenical effort among leaders and members of diverse Christian denominations. In addition, many cases demonstrate how church partners are able to engage key decision-makers and leaders at different levels of society at critical moments in the course of a conflict. The central learning question for all the case studies is “what are the key factors that have contributed to, or impeded, the effectiveness of church peacebuilding action?” The intent is to surface lessons while helping to develop an internal, disciplined habit of reflection within the organization. The general guidelines for writing the studies emphasize four good learning practices: a) linking interventions to the context, b) articulating the implicit and explicit hypotheses or “theories of change,” c) using, building upon and/or complementing evaluation, and d) recognizing potential rival explanations for why things happened. It should be clear that the cases are exemplary, not representative. They provide a small sampling of the peacebuilding activities conducted by CRS and its partners in recent years. Each CRS region freely determined which particular case it would bring to the undertaking. Adherence to the initial qualifying criteria — including engagement with external actors (civil society, government or inter-religious) and commitments to social cohesion or equity — varied considerably." (Introduction, page 3-4)
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