Paths to Forgetting

Public amnesia and the political choice to 'forget' aspects of a difficult past define many post-atrocity contexts. Paths to Forgetting explores how distinct forms of transition such as rebel victory or power-sharing shape the memory regime and produce different forms of public amnesia in Rwanda, Burundi, and Kenya.

The book focuses on sites of violence and their encounters with erasure to capture the everyday aspects of the securitisation of memory. It finds that public amnesia directly impacts conflict transformation and peacebuilding. It examines how amnesia contributes to grievance via non-recognition in Rwanda, how exposures without meaningful redress in Burundi, and the refusal to engage with the deeper roots of conflict in Kenya, undermine peacebuilding.

Finally, the book highlights the importance of addressing the regional dimensions of memory and forgetting, equipping readers with new conceptual tools for peacebuilding scholarship and practice.