Publication
Title
Ethnic quotas and foreign NGOs in Burundi : shrinking civic space framed as affirmative action
Author
Abstract
Since January 2017, foreign non-governmental organisations (ONGEs) active in Burundi are required to respect ethnic quotas (60 per cent Hutu, 40 per cent Tutsi) when employing local staff. The ethnic quota requirement was adopted amidst fears of re-ethnicisation of politics and society, enhanced control on civil society and tense relations between the Burundi government and its aid partners. While authorities justify the measure as a remedy for decades of discrimination along ethnic lines, an analysis of the legal reform shows that a variety of other motivations and dominant party interests account for its adoption and enforcement. While the reform mirrors a wider international trend of shrinking civic space, the Burundi case study also shows how a clever discursive strategy may skillfully divide ONGEs and their funding agencies. Furthermore, the case study reveals the instrumental use of obscurity and ambiguity in terms of the legal wording and enforcement of the ethnic quota requirement.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Africa spectrum / Institut für Afrikakunde [Hamburg]; Institute of African Studies [Hamburg] - Hamburg, 1966, currens
Publication
Hamburg : 2019
ISSN
0002-0397 [print]
1868-6869 [online]
DOI
10.1177/0002039719881460
Volume/pages
54 :3 (2019) , p. 181-200
ISI
000524168900001
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 06.11.2019
Last edited 26.08.2024
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