Agaciro, or what Rwanda thinks of development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47697/lds.38390002Keywords:
Agaciro, Rwanda, Social Identity Theory, Leadership, Identity Leadership, Development, Textile and Apparel industry, DecolonialityAbstract
Against a background of highly polarised research on Rwanda, emerges a promising scholarly interest in Agaciro— a worldview, means of livelihood and a political project that centres ideals of individual and collective dignity and self-worth.[1] This paper explores: in what ways does Agaciro influence Rwanda’s economic development? This is examined through two key determinants: (1) the extent to which Agaciro affects state-society mutuality, and (2) the extent to which Agaciro supports Rwandan agency in international trade, by employing the Social Identity Theory of Leadership (SIT-L). Designed as a qualitative, desk-based research of primary and secondary material, especially that which focuses on the 2016 second-hand clothing ban, this article reveals Agaciro’s key role in determining ‘the content, strategies and modalities of development’[2] in Rwanda. It calls for more serious academic engagement with endogenous knowledge for better understanding of the nature of mutuality, leadership dynamics, and development processes in Rwanda.
[1] Heylen, “Ownership and Mutual Benefits, a Trade-Off? Lessons from Rwanda’s Philosophy of ‘Agaciro’ for Team Europe.”
[2] Ake, “Building on the Indigenous,” 14.
