In this paper we explore the nexus of language policy, ideology and power in the linguistic landscape of urban Rwanda. In post-genocide Rwanda, English has been promoted and gained status. This has led to an increased usage of English on shop signs in the streets of Kigali and other towns in Rwanda at the expense of both French and Kinyarwanda. Unique quantitative language data documented in streets before 2008 are in this study compared to data collected in 2018, in the same streets. This forms the background for analysis of official discourse, targeting language policy changes, especially after the 2008 decision to appoint English as the language of administration as well as the medium of instruction throughout the educational system from grade 1 on. This decision was made despite the fact that Rwanda has a national language, Kinyarwanda, known by 99.4 per cent of the population. The analysis shows that political aspects of language policy decisions are downplayed. Officially, both discursively and in practice, the Rwandan government, that is the English speaking elite in power, legitimize their decisions by pretending that imposing English is an inevitable, pragmatic and rational measure for economic development. This narrative reveals ideas about inherent qualities of specific languages while simultaneously discarding others. Additionally, in public discourse all four official languages are equal. Reality is different. In a society where the status language is only acquired through education and used as medium of instruction, power differences and socioeconomic inequalities are neglected and obscured.
While there is an on-going debate about what constitutes current policies and practices on gender equality between men and women in Rwanda, there is general agreement that Rwandan traditional beliefs and cultural norms have produced a patriarchy ideology and unequal power relations between women and men. Such traditional beliefs are not only observed in Rwanda, but in different parts of the world as well; and it is still problematic to assess a framework in which current gender policies are redesigned to allocate equitable power between women and men. This study focuses on the analysis and comparison of issues of gender identity and power relations as embedded in the Rwandan short narratives and in the Millennium Development Goals on gender equality. More specifically, this study investigates the design and redesign of the issues related to power relations and their effect on gender identity conception and assumption. Analysed from Marxist theories of power and Thompson’s modes perspectives, the findings suggest that Rwandan traditional narratives view men as more powerful than women and the society expects more from men in terms of responsibilities. As for the Millennium Development Goals, they focus on women empowerment only and thereby create a new imbalance between men and women. The paper recommends equality in terms of a maleness and femaleness ideology from policy to legislation and other domains.
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