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VU Research Portal Elusive Tactics Berckmoes, L.H. 2014 document version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in VU Research Portal citation for published version (APA) Berckmoes, L. H. (2014). Elusive Tactics: Urban Youth Navigating the Aftermath of War in Burundi. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. E-mail address: [email protected] Download date: 29. Sep. 2021 Elusive Tactics Lidewyde H. Berckmoes, 2014 All rights reserved. Save exceptions stated by the law, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system of any nature, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers, application for which should be addressed to the author. Cover design by Isabelle Backer Cover photograph by Lidewyde Berckmoes: Four youths on the way home after a visit to a youth centre in the Bujumbura neighbourhood Buterere, in May 2010. Printed by CPI – Koninklijke Wöhrmann VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT Elusive Tactics Urban Youth Navigating the Aftermath of War in Burundi ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad Doctor aan de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, op gezag van de rector magnificus prof.dr. F.A. van der Duyn Schouten, in het openbaar te verdedigen ten overstaan van de promotiecommissie van de Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen op vrijdag 14 februari 2014 om 11.45 uur in de aula van de universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105 door Lidewyde Huberta Berckmoes geboren te Ramotswa, Botswana promotor: prof.dr. G.J. Abbink copromotoren: dr. E.W. Bal prof.dr. R.T. Reis 4 Intr Committee members: prof. dr. H.E. Vigh dr. A.J. Salman dr. M. Rosenkrantz Lindegaard dr. A. Ansoms dr. S. Turner dr. R. Huijsmans 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements 10 Introduction: War, Youth and Everyday Practices 13 I. ‘Like a Paradise’ 15 II. Structure of the Thesis 17 Chapter 1. Beginnings and Horizons: Research in the Aftermath of War 21 I. Is There Still War, Could There be Again? 23 On the Verge of Return 24 Cyclical Violence 25 II. Methodology: A Balancing Act 28 Perils and the Periphery 28 Kamenge Youth Centre 30 The Protagonists 33 Access, Trust and Distrust 36 Ethics and Conflict 38 III. Questioning Purposive Action 41 Chaos and Violence 41 Indeterminacy 43 Practices 44 Social Navigation 46 Tactics and Effects 47 IV. Discussion: Indeterminacy and Reinventing Peace 50 Chapter 2. Troubled Past 53 I. Notes on History 54 II. Local-global Connections 56 6 Intr Early Calamities 56 Cold War Contagion 57 Unbridled Violence 58 III. Internal Diversity 59 Regions and Clans 60 Bujumbura and the Hinterlands 61 Historicity of Ethnicity 62 IV. State and Society 64 Pre-colonial Configurations 65 Colonial Reformulation 67 Post-independence Polarization 68 Elections and War 69 V. Discussion: Cycles of Violence, Cycles of Myth? 71 Chapter 3. Mapping in the Quartiers Nord 73 I. ‘Mythical Map’ 75 Innocent’s Guided Tour 76 II. Urban Planning and Violence 82 Origins of Residence Patterns 82 Violent Separation 84 III. Talking about the Civil War 86 The Trope of Segregation 86 First Signs of War 88 Flight Experiences 90 Personal Stories 93 IV. Social and Economic Characteristics 95 V. ‘Know’ Your Neighbour 99 Where Do You Live? 99 Inaccuracies 101 Morality at Stake 103 VI. Discussion Mapping and Indeterminacy 105 7 Chapter 4. ‘This Chapter is Not About Ethnicity’ 107 I. The ‘-Ism’ 108 Conflicting Narratives 109 II. Fieldwork Encounters 112 III. Navigating Ethnicity: Trends 117 Disappearance 117 Disapproval 118 Avoidance 119 IV. The Real and the Apparent 122 Monitoring Guidelines 122 Producing Hidden Realities 125 V. Potentiality: Between Fear and Hope 126 VI. Discussion: Peace Uncertainty 129 Chapter 5. The Cycle of Politics and Life Chances 131 I. Crisis Dynamics in Searching for Life 132 II. Politics, Violence and Youth 134 The Nature of Politics 135 Politically Active Youth 135 Wartime Youth Militias 140 Non-violent Youth 141 III. Chercher la Vie 143 Limited Employment Opportunities 144 Patience Tactics 146 IV. Critical Moments of Political Participation 150 Recurring Mobilization 151 Pressure to Choose 155 Vital Consequences 158 V. Discussion: Tactics and Conjunctures 163 8 Intr Conclusion: Beyond the Space of the Other 165 I. Summarizing ‘Something’ 166 II. Agency and Effects in Reinventing Peace 167 III. Elusive Tactics 169 Violent Pursuits 170 Emotions and Tactics 171 Ordinary ‘Extraordinary Circumstances’ 172 Breaking the Cycle 174 References 176 English Summary 186 Nederlandse Samenvatting 188 Sommaire en francais 191 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are so many people to thank for their contributions and encouragements. I will limit myself to the core, knowing that there are many, many more. Ria, for being an inspiration, eight years on end, Jan, for your engaged suggestions and subtle comments, Ellen, for always being there with enthusiasm and care. Mama, for your never-ending love and wisdom, Papa, for your advice, French, and the promise of red roses, Emile and Vera, for being my big brother and amazing sister, Judith, for having become my new sister. My Burundian friends and acquaintances, For sharing your doubts and hopes, and for opening your hearts and homes, Ndakubuyeko amaso sindabakuyeko umutima. Rosine, for being my friend, and a funny one, Centre Jeunes Kamenge, for your warm welcome, Especially Claudio and Claire. Herman, for your kindness, and for the desk and chair, Elysée and Dorien, for the link between here and there, Miriam, Daphne, Eva and Amy, for the same, but in a different way, Jesse, for the chances and the trust, Jacob, for the beginning and the end. Mark, for our precious past. Simon, Anja, Henrik, Henrik, Anna and Dora, For København and across the bridge, Roy, Ton, An and Marie, for accepting to be on the dissertation committee. The Children and Youth group, for what I learned, and for the soup, Carola and Nicola, also for the American diner. Jonna and Naomi, the best ‘paranyphms’, Thank you for all the feedback and the warm friendship. 10 Intr Alexander, Amer, André, Annette, Caroline, Daan, David, Donya, Duane, Femke, Inge, Joan, Josh, Luiz, Maja, Markus, Mienke, Mijke, Rhoda, and Stella, For sharing stories, frustrations and fun, The grey VU building does not do justice to the colour you bring in. Scott, for a year of sharing thoughts and (chai) wisdom. Marten, Manuela, for sharing work and dreams, Erik, Maaike, Hanneke and Yuri, for amity and proofreads. The Catharine van Tussenbroekfonds/Nell Ongeboerfonds, the Treubfoundation, the Boas fund, the Graduate School, especially Saskia, The department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freek, Thijl, Pàl and Annet, Thank you for making the research possible. Esther, for not wanting me to go on fieldwork and for letting me know. Miranda, Heleen, Nienke, Joyce, Eva, Lette and Simone, For the laughs, the tears, the whiskey, the wine. Femke, Inge, Saskia, Saskia and Marijn, For staying in touch, Elke, Nicole, and Hanneke, to new friendships! Isabelle, for making the disseration so belle Sietze and Natascha, for helping me say: Thank you, Merci, Murakoze, Dankjewel! 11 12 INTRODUCTION 13 Introduction The administrative boundaries of Bujumbura, Burundi (communes) Based on the map ‘Bujumbura rural and mairie provinces’ by OCHA, 2004 14 War, Youth and Everyday Practices WAR, YOUTH AND EVERYDAY PRACTICES I. ‘LIKE A PARADISE’ [0:00 min.] Mathieu: I was born in 1985, in [the neighbourhood] Cibitoke. But I cannot tell you anything about my life from the age of my birth until, say, eight. At eight years old, that is when I started to see my life; to see what my life was. When I was eight, that is when, it was as though the war erupted in Burundi; in 1993. (…) I was in the second year [of primary school] when the war started; with the murder of our president. When he was assassinated, well, that is when I saw, when I started thinking about my life. [41:30 min.] But today things are changing, the Burundian population [is starting] to see that it is not ‘the ethnic’ that kills. It is not the ethnic that kills (…) Lide: So, when were things starting to change? You say that today things are changing? Mathieu: To change? I can say, it was in, I can say in 2005 really (…) Well, yes, really, I saw [then] that Burundi was going to become like a paradise. [1.07:15 min.] Mathieu: But today we can see that war [is] in the hearts of people, is it something, it is something that we apply as though it were simple (c’est simple). But it is not simple. Today we see people tell us “[killing] is not the first time and it will not be the last”. (…) It is as though I could say that it is something that they program in people, that is being programmed in the people of Burundi. You would think that they programmed us so that when we hear that someone has died we will say “ah, it is simple” (…) Each day people die.