Suchergebnisse

"Following Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann (1991) this study focuses on taken-for-granted notions, i.e. knowledge (defining ethnicized politics as exclusion interpreted with reference to ethnic categories). This represents a departure from the conventional academic discussion of ethnicized politics, which focuses on exclusion inherent to the structures of political systems when seeking to explain violent conflict aligned along ethnic cleavages. The study compares two neighboring countries, Rwanda and Burundi, where different institutional models have been introduced to overcome ethnicized politics following comparable episodes of ethnic violence. Whereas the Rwandan system avoids political representation based on ethnic categories, the Burundian system prescribes ethnic quotas. Semi-standardized interviews with twenty-two Rwandans and twenty Burundians conducted between September 2007 and May 2008 investigated ethnicized politics as patterns of interpretation (i.e. knowledge). The study found that notwithstanding the different political institutional systems in Rwanda and Burundi (both aiming to overcome ethicized politics), exclusion in both systems is interpreted with reference to ethnic categories, i.e. politics are ethnicized in both countries. This result points to the importance of conceiving ethnicized politics as historically produced knowledge, i.e. patterns of interpretation." (author's abstract)

Following Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann (1991) this study focuses on taken-for-granted notions, i.e. knowledge (defining ethicized politics as exclusions interpreted with reference to ethnic categories). This represents a departure from the conventional academic discussion of ethicized politics, which focuses on exclusion inherent to the structures of political systems when seeking to explain violent conflict aligned along ethnic cleavages. The study compares two neighbouring countries, Rwanda and Burundi, where different institutional models have been introduced to overcome ethicized politics following comparable episodes of ethnic violence. Whereas the Rwandan system avoids political representation based on ethnic categories, the Burundian system prescribes ethnic quotas. Semi-standardised interviews with twenty-two Rwandans and twenty Burundians conducted between September 2007 and May 2008 investigated ethicized politics as patterns of interpretation (i.e. knowledge). The study found that notwithstanding the different political institutional systems in Rwanda and Burundi (both aiming to overcome ethicized politics), exclusion in both systems is interpreted with reference to ethnic categories, i.e. politics are ethnicised in both countries. This result points to the importance of conceiving ethnicised politics as historically produced knowledge, i.e. patterns of interpretation. Adapted from the source document.