UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS Entanglements of Modernity, Colonialism and Genocide Burundi and Rwanda in Historical-Sociological Perspective Jack Dominic Palmer University of Leeds School of Sociology and Social Policy January 2017 Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ii The candidate confirms that the work submitted is their own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. ©2017 The University of Leeds and Jack Dominic Palmer. The right of Jack Dominic Palmer to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by Jack Dominic Palmer in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would firstly like to thank Dr Mark Davis and Dr Tom Campbell. The quality of their guidance, insight and friendship has been a huge source of support and has helped me through tough periods in which my motivation and enthusiasm for the project were tested to their limits. I drew great inspiration from the insightful and constructive critical comments and recommendations of Dr Shirley Tate and Dr Austin Harrington when the thesis was at the upgrade stage, and I am also grateful for generous follow-up discussions with the latter. I am very appreciative of the staff members in SSP with whom I have worked closely in my teaching capacities, as well as of the staff in the office who do such a great job at holding the department together. I would also like to say a huge thanks to my friends Emma Bimpson, Ben Hirst, Robert Lee, Emily Maddox and Jenny Read for their companionship, humour and support. There are things I won’t miss about doing a PhD but I will certainly miss seeing you all regularly. As ever, I am grateful for the unconditional love and support of my family in the South: Mum, Dad, Luke, Holly, Tegan, Tasmin and the newest addition, Aurelia. I am grateful too to my surrogate West Yorkshire family, the Stokoes. I am also extremely thankful to Muhammad Sajjad, whose kindness and dignity in spite of everything he’s been through have been sobering and inspiring. I am very grateful that mine and Jean-Marie Ninziza’s biographies became entangled here in Leeds, and that he traced his so candidly on an unforgettable trip around Burundi in 2013. I thank him and Joy for their hospitality, and all who greeted and hosted us so warmly. I also thank JM for his intelligent and engaging conversation, which has had a profound bearing on the direction of this project - agashingura cumu! Finally, I am more appreciative than words can express for the love, support and intellect of my partner, Yoshiko. She has grounded me in my flighty moments and pulled me out of pits of despair. This thesis is dedicated to her. iv ABSTRACT This thesis explores two lines of critique of social theories of modernity by way of a historical sociological analysis of Burundi and Rwanda. Firstly, it engages with arguments about the Euro-/Western-centric assumptions which are suggested to have underpinned many conceptualisations of modernity. Secondly, it considers the notion that the processes of modernity move gradually, if precariously, towards more peaceable forms of cohabitation within and between societies. In doing so, it draws on and develops the theoretical framework of entanglement, which emphasises the existence of a variety of intertwined historical routes to and through modernity. Central to the analysis is a critique of both the idea that modernity entails a progressive ‘detraditionalisation’ or destruction of traditional societal forms, and the idea that tradition provides a repository of cultural resources upon which are founded distinct, plural ‘modernities’. In the case of Burundi and Rwanda, I argue that colonial modernity, in its indirect rule format, in important respects ‘solidified’ tradition in racial terms. In the transition to independence, the colonial legacy both enabled and delimited autonomous societal self- understandings and political movements. In the postcolonial period, the tension between the modern commitment to autonomy on the one hand and seemingly traditional legacies on the other has been realised in profoundly destructive and violent ways. I conclude that the historical experiences of extremely violent social conflict in Burundi and Rwanda are situated within a specific route to and through modernity. The original contribution of the thesis is twofold. Firstly, it presents a new substantive case study to the analysis of non-Western experiences and interpretations of modernity. Secondly, in doing so, it offers a theoretical contribution to debates concerning the multiplicity of modernity which have arisen principally in the paradigm of ‘multiple modernities’ and postcolonial sociology. v Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv Glossary of terms and acronyms ................................................................................................... vii PART ONE ............................................................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 Original Contribution ...................................................................................................................... 2 Audience ......................................................................................................................................... 4 Why Burundi and Rwanda? ............................................................................................................ 5 Research Questions ......................................................................................................................... 9 Structure of the Thesis .................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter Synopsis .......................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER TWO – GENOCIDE AND COLONIALISM: PRELIMINARY CONCEPTUAL AND DEFINITIONAL PROBLEMS......................................................................................................... 15 Genocide ....................................................................................................................................... 15 Colonialism ................................................................................................................................... 34 Genocide and Colonialism ............................................................................................................ 42 CHAPTER THREE – THEORISING THE MULTIPLICITY OF MODERNITY: TOWARDS ENTANGLED HISTORICAL ROUTES TO AND THROUGH MODERNITY ............................ 48 Modernity, Modernisation, Modern Society ................................................................................. 49 Modernity, Colonialism and Eurocentrism ................................................................................... 52 Modernity as a Time-Orientation .................................................................................................. 55 Multiple Modernities .................................................................................................................... 59 Entangled Historical Routes to and through Modernity ............................................................... 68 CHAPTER FOUR – UNDERSTANDING ENTANGLEMENTS: HERMENEUTICS, HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY, AND METHOD .............................................................................. 82 Problems of Global and Historical Understanding ....................................................................... 83 Philosophical Hermeneutics, Historical Sociology and Area Studies ........................................... 86 Using Primary and Secondary Documentary Sources .................................................................. 98 Limitations, Reflexivity and Ethics ............................................................................................ 105 PART TWO ........................................................................................................................................ 108 CHAPTER FIVE – PRECOLONIAL BURUNDI AND RWANDA: A HISTORICAL SURVEY ........................................................................................................................................................ 108 The Great Lakes Region ............................................................................................................. 110 Rwanda ....................................................................................................................................... 115 Burundi ....................................................................................................................................... 124 Intermediate Reflections ............................................................................................................. 129 vi CHAPTER SIX – THE COLONIAL ENTANGLEMENT,