Paper short abstract:

We analyse the discrepancy between the Rwandan governments’ constructed image of a performing state – in line with international donors’ standards - and the ‘disguised masks of dissent’ of local rural actors that challenge this dominant discourse.

Paper long abstract:

This paper analyses the way in which social life in Rwanda is covered under many 'veils of disguise'. The Rwandan government very actively constructs an image of a performing state enhancing fast economic development through intense social engineering. Their vision is largely inspired by a neoliberal view upon what a modern post-conflict society should look like. It has made Rwanda one of the African 'donor darlings', widely applauded by the international community for its economic progress and exemplary status in terms of technocratic 'good governance'. At first sight, many people at the local level seem to be 'working with the system' and perform within the boundaries of what is publically desirable. Behind the screen, however, people have developed inventive strategies to 'work around the system'. They challenge the dominant discourse through 'disguised masks of dissent' (terminology adopted from Scott, 1995). The first part of the chapter analyses this discrepancy between public and hidden transcripts in terms of rural development. In the second part, we reflect upon the methodological challenges for foreign researchers to uncover such hidden transcripts. In a third part, we illustrate how research participants' increased 'willingness to share' their hidden transcripts with us as foreign researchers gives an indication of the increased levels of frustration that people are facing at the local level. We reflect upon which corridors of agency exist that have the potential to channel this hidden dissent into more organised forms of (hopefully non-violent) resistance.