New Books in Sociology Shakirah E. Hudani, "Master Plans and Minor Acts: Repairing the City in Post-Genocide Rwanda" (U Chicago Press, 2024)
Sep 18, 2025
Shakirah E. Hudani, an urban studies scholar specializing in African cities and post-conflict transitions, delves into the intricate world of urban repair in post-genocide Rwanda. She explores how large-scale planning interacts with local memory and materials to forge reconciliation. Hudani introduces the concept of 'Minor Acts,' everyday repairs vital for social restoration. She critiques Kigali's master plans, revealing their impact on residents, and discusses ongoing themes in urban transformation as she looks toward her future research in Nairobi.
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Master Plan As Spatialized Narrative
- Hudani frames Kigali's transformation as a spatialized master narrative that orders memory, population, and development.
- She ties current planning to colonial and post-independence histories of territorial ordering.
Kibuye Scene: Proximity Enabled Encounters
- Hudani describes a dense scene in Kibuye with market, prison, and stadium close together less than a decade after 1994.
- That proximity enabled encounters that later formalization and separation reduced.
Planning As Post-Crisis Fix
- The Kigali Spatial Master Plan functions as a 'post-crisis fix' and a terrain for accumulation by transformation.
- Hudani links elite planning firms and expertise entrepreneurs to this mode of urban and economic reordering.
