Imagining a Modern Rwanda
Imagining a Modern Rwanda
Sociotechnological Imaginaries, Information Technology, and the Postgenocide State
This chapter examines post-genocide Rwanda's ICT policies and the underlying sociotechnical imaginary of ICT-led progress embraced by the Kagame government and shared by many donors. Kagame envisioned Rwanda as a reconstructed, modern African nation. He embraced a Singapore-like vision of Rwanda as Africa's ICT Hub. This chapter explores the development successes of Kagame's RPF government in rebuilding the nation after the genocide using ICT as an instrument. However, the RPF government's top-down view of modernization and development significantly limit the participation of Rwandan civil society in rebuilding the nation. Further, this study exposes a general weakness of Rwanda in the post-reconstruction era: despite the great development successes of the current government, the top-down nature of governance means that the country's civil society remains woefully underdeveloped, which may cripple Rwanda's progress in the future.
Keywords: sociotechnical imaginary, ICT policy, Rwanda, Kagame, infrastructure, development, authoritarianism
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