Event Date: March 07, 2023
How does engaging in remembrance practices meet diverse needs of Rwandans who lived through genocide in 1994? This presentation discusses various relationships between memory and justice, and their impact on how Rwandans seek justice and reconciliation today. Experiencing traumatic events like genocide shatters widely shared senses of meaning within society. The shattered meaning results in a lack of faith in the normal and peaceful functioning of government and society. It hinders the ability for individuals to live fulfilling lives while being protected from future violence. Seeking justice is one possible way to reestablish perceptions of fairness, control, predictability, coherence, and benevolence within the post-genocidal society.
Dr. Samantha Lakin is a specialist on transitional justice, human security, and post-atrocity rebuilding, focused on the Great Lakes region of Africa, specifically Rwanda. Dr. Lakin has served as a Research Expert and consultant with organizations including Search for Common Ground, Inclusive Security, the American University of Iraq, Sulimani. She was a Fulbright Scholar in Switzerland (2011-2012) and in Rwanda (2017-2018), and a Graduate Research Fellow at Harvard’s Program on Negotiation. Dr. Lakin holds a M.A. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a Ph.D. from Clark University. She is currently a Lecturer in Conflict Resolution at UMass Boston.
