Will Rollason is senior lecturer of anthropology at Brunel University London. He’s written a fascinating book titled
Motorbike People: Power and Politics on Rwandan Streets (Lexington Books, 2020).
Will’s book is an ethnography of taxi-moto drivers in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city. Not only is his book a rich account of the everyday lives of motorcylists’ (
motari) everyday lives, Will’s research challenge anthropological understanding of the concept of power and its relationship to culture.
He argues that the concept of power is too expansive, too all-encompassing to provide explanations of how “power” operates in a given culture. Will finds that there is dearth of understanding in the social sciences, leading to a conceptual inability to engage in questions of justice and make common cause with the oppressed.
Susan Thomson is associate professor of peace and conflict studies at Colgate University.