Women and War in Rwanda: Gender, Media and the Representation of Genocide (International Library of African Studies) - Softcover

Holmes, Georgina

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1838605797 ISBN 13: 9781838605797

Publisher: I.B. Tauris, 2019

Synopsis

Focusing on television media reporting of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and its aftermath, this book explores how African states directly involved in conflict, western states with geopolitical interests in Africa’s Great Lakes region, militia groups, human rights activists and NGOs use gendered media narratives strategically, often engaging in politics of revisionism and denial, to change the behaviour of other actors in the international system. Critically analysing BBC documentary films and news features and drawing on interviews with British, Rwandan and Congolese journalists, filmmakers, political commentators and human rights activists Georgina Holmes argues that documentary films and political discussion programmes are postcolonial contact zones, wherein competing actors perform in an attempt to influence international political decision-making on military and humanitarian intervention and public perceptions of genocide and war. The book breaks new ground in understanding how Rwandan and Congolese women actively engage in producing and shaping international public discourse on genocide and war, despite being depicted as silent, passive victims of conflict. This book is essential reading on the gendered dynamics of media reporting on conflicts and will appeal to anyone with an interest in Feminist Security Studies, Political Communication, Media and Film Studies, African Studies, Genocide Studies and International Relations.

About this title

About the Author

Georgina Holmes holds a PhD in International Relations from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and a JD specialising in public relations. She is a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Reading.

Edition details

• Publisher: I.B. Tauris
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1838605797
• ISBN 13: 9781838605797
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 350