Fractured Pasts in Lake Kivu’s Borderlands
Conflicts, Connections and Mobility in Central Africa by Gillian Mathys
Godefroid Muzalia (GEC-SH, DRC) in Coversation with Gillian Mathys (UGent, Dept. of History)
When: November 25, 2025 ( Tue)
Time: 10:30AM-12:00
Where: 3rd Floor, John Vincke Room, Technicum 1, UFO Campus, Ghent University
Sandwiches and drinks will be served afterwards.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
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.
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.
ABOUT GODEFROID:
Godefroid Muzalia is a Professor at the Department of History-Social Sciences at the Institut Supérieur Pédagogique (ISP) in Bukavu and Director of the Groupe d’Etudes sur les Conflits et la Sécurité Humaine (GEC-SH). As Director of GEC-SH, Godefroid has worked with RVI on the Usalama and Research Collaboration projects in the DRC. He taught on the RVI Great Lakes Field Course in 2018 and 2019. His expertise is conflict analysis, security sector governance and human security in the DRC.