Making and Unmaking Nations: The Origins of Genocide and Non-Genocide in Contemporary Africa
Scott Straus
Professor of Political Science and International Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison
12:00pm, 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI
Description
The presentation will explore the roots and dynamics of large-scale violence against civilians in post-independence Africa. The focus will be on Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, Rwanda, and Sudan.
Bio
Scott Straus specializes in the study of genocide, political violence, human rights, and African politics. He has conducted fieldwork most recently in Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Rwanda, and Senegal. His published work includes several books on Rwanda, including The Order of Genocide: Race, Power, and War in Rwanda (Cornell University Press, 2006); Remaking Rwanda: State Building and Human Rights after Mass Violence (University of Wisconsin Press, 2011); and Intimate Enemy (Zone Books, 2006). Scott also co-authored Africa’s Stalled Development (Lynne Rienner, 2003), translated The Great Lakes of Africa (Zone Books, 2003), and has published in Perspectives on Politics, Foreign Affairs, World Politics, Politics & Society, Journal of Genocide Research, African Affairs, Terrorism and Political Violnece, and Genocide Studies and Prevention. Scott has received fellowships from the Andrew Mellon Foundation, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Social Science Rsearch Council, and the United States Institute of Peace. In 2009, Scott was awarded the campus-wide William H. Kiekhofer Distinguished Teaching Award. In 2011, he was named a Winnick Fellow at the Committee on Conscience at the U.S. Memorial Holocaust Museum. He co-edits the book series Critical Human Rights with Steve Stern. Before starting in academia, Scott was a freelance journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya.