Rwanda's Ingando camps

To this end, over almost two decades, the government has introduced a variety of supposedly 'traditional,' 'local' and 'participatory' activities. This paper focusses on 'ingando' camps.

Just as with the other activities, ingando offers insights into the performative aspect of nation-building. But unlike other activities, the camps provide a unique insight into the way in which spatial and symbolic aspects, especially 'liminality' (a camp as a transient and transitional space), are being used to reproduce power (a structural set of relations). This paper attempts to understand both the 'what' of ingando (What is it all about?) and the effects that the camps have — both the claimed effects (ie. the 'expected' outcomes such as 'reconciliation', 'unity,''nation-building') and the actual effects, whatever these might be.