Christopher Davey, Brigham Young University, USA:"Episodes of Genocide: The Gatumba Lens."
Channel: GIRES-Global Research Institute
Date: 2021-02-22

Christopher Davey, PhD, holds a doctorate in Peace Studies and InternationalDevelopment with the University of Bradford. His research focuses on identity, narrative and emerging perspectives on genocide, and includes fieldwork with Banyamulenge soldiers in central African and within the diaspora. He is interested in evaluating the development of narrative analysis as a qualitative study of participation in genocide, and the intersections of mass violence, identity and climate change. He currently teaches political science at Brigham Young University.

Abstract:
This paper addresses how single episodes of genocides, or massacres, frame an intersubjective pattern of genocide. In August 2004, a Burundian refugee camp housing mainly Congolese Tutsi refugees or Banyamulenge, was attacked in a manner indicative of violence against Tutsi during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Whilst this case can be seen in isolation, it serves as a distinct narrative point for Banyamulenge in Congo and in the wider diaspora. This paper examines the significance of a single massacre using the Gatumba case study, and will use various sources, such as NGO reporting, to recount this 2004 attack. This paper focuses on a narrative analysis of fieldwork interviews with current and former Banyamulenge soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as interviews with Banyamulenge refugees in the global diaspora, particularly those in the UK and USA. It argues that a single case of genocide, or a massacre, like Gatumba can create a narrative of identification with genocide as “victims” that then filters future experiences with mass violence. This happens through the processes of reciting trauma, narrative production within group networks, and through memorialization.

CONFERENCE INFORMATION
"Genocides, Deportations and Massacres: Experiences, (hi)stories and interpretations"
Organizer: GIRES-Global Institute for Research Education & Scholarship  
Date: 14-15 November 2020
Place: Amsterdam (Virtual)
More information: https://www.gires.org/activities/conferences/genocides-deportations-and-massacres-experiences-histories-and-interpretations/

The new International Conference organized by GIRES, the Global Institute for Research Education & Scholarship based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands dedicated to interdisciplinarity, opened the discussion on a highly interesting and complex issue. We live in the most technologically advanced era in human history, offering the unique privilege of access to limitless knowledge and information. Despite the knowledge we have gained from the painful lessons of the past, in many ways we face challenges similar to those of previous generations.

We analyzed and discussed various mass atrocities including genocides, ethnic-cleansings, massacres, and forced deportations. We explored the newest research on these topics, examined the past, analyzed the present, and contemplated the future.