In our first inaugural lecture of 2024, we welcomed Professor Phil Clark and Professor Dafydd Fell from the Department of Politics, who presented lectures on Rwanda under the Rwandan Patriotic Front: Assessing 30 Years of Post-Genocide Recovery and Alternative Politics in Taiwan: The Birth of Asia's First Green Party respectively.
April 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the Genocide against the Tutsi population in Rwanda. Drawing on more than 20 years of field research in Rwanda, in his lecture Professor Clark assesses how far the country has come since the Genocide in terms of justice, reconciliation, socio-economic equality and civic freedom.
In the second lecture of the night, Professor Fell discusses how a conversation with a SOAS student led to a decade long journey researching Taiwan's Green political parties. This inaugural lecture focuses on the party's first year, including its formation, first election and relationship with the international Green Party movement.