Fractured Pasts in Lake Kivu's Borderlands: Conflicts, Connections and Mobility in Central Africa

by Gillian Mathys

Overview

The Lake Kivu region, which borders Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has often been defined by scholars in terms of conflict, violence, and separation. In contrast, this innovative study explores histories of continuities and connections across the borderland. Gillian Mathys utilises an integrated historical perspective to trace long-term processes in the region, starting from the second half of the nineteenth century and reaching to the present day. Fractured Pasts in Lake Kivu's Borderlands powerfully reshapes historical understandings of mobility, conflict, identity formation and historical narration in and across state and ecological borders. In doing so, Mathys deconstructs reductive historical myths that have continued to underpin justifications for violence in the region. Drawing on cross-border oral history research and a wealth of archival material, Fractured Pasts embraces a new and powerful perspective of the region's history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781009463058
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/31/2025
Series:	African Studies
Pages:	406
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 1.50(h) x 9.50(d)

About the Author

Gillian Mathys is an Associate Professor in African History at Ghent University, with particular research interests in the Great Lakes Region. She has previously been appointed as an expert to the parliamentary commission on Belgium's colonial past. Mathys has contributed articles to journals including The Journal of African History, Africa, and The Journal of Peasant Studies.

Table of Contents

I. Practices of Space: 1. Frontiers: centering Lake Kivu's societies (19th Century); II. Making the Borderlands: 2. Demarcations: drawing colonial borders (1890s–1910); 3. Separations: chiefs and chieftaincies (1910–1930s); III. Connections: 4. Contradictions: labor questions (1920s and 1930s); 5. Continuities: histories of mobility (ca. 1937–1948); 6. Asymmetries: friendship and commercial flows (1930s–1950s); IV. (Dis)connected Pasts: 7. Precursors: land, power and identity (1950s); 8. Borders: conflicted decolonizations (1959–1965); 9. Entanglements: 'Greater Rwanda' and 'balkanisation' (1990s–2022).

Editorial Reviews

‘This book provides a compelling historical argument that will undoubtedly rejuvenate debates on the inviolability of borders in Africa. Original and highly nuanced, Gillian Mathys helps us understand the necessity of decolonizing borders, identities, and their state-centric perspectives through narratives from the margins.' Aymar Nyenyezi Bisoka, co-author of Field Research in Africa: The Ethics of Researcher Vulnerabilities

‘A provocative study that upends mainstream scholarship, Mathys' monograph challenges the very notion of an impervious border around Lake Kivu, opting instead to view that borderland as porous, fluid, and capacious. A must-read study that avoids the politics and pitfalls of presentism and tells an empathetic story that demystifies the language of autochthony.' Didier Gondola, author of Tropical Cowboys: Youth Gangs, Violence, and Masculinities in Colonial Kinshasa

‘Essential reading for all interested in long Great Lakes histories with several new and compelling interpretive approaches.' Nancy Rose Hunt, author of A Nervous State

‘In this bold, meticulously-researched book, Mathys offers new perspectives on contemporary conflicts involving Rwanda and eastern DRC. Her nuanced analysis shows how colonial policies and strategies of local people altered formerly fluid identities and mobility, and increased awareness of political/ethnic identity. Covering a wide range of societies and impressive time depth, this essential contribution demonstrates why we need sustained historical analysis to understand identity-based conflict and violence.' Catharine Newbury, Gwendolen Carter Professor Emerita of African Studies & Professor Emerita of Government, Smith College

From the Publisher