The democracy movement in Zaire 1956-1994

Paper presented at the Wits History Workshop: Democracy, Popular Precedents, Practice and Culture, 13-15 July, 199

Les abordages théoriques sur les défis du développement des pays africains et les leçons qu’on peut en tirer

Depuis les indépendances africaines, plusieurs théories ont été formulées sur les défis du développement en Afrique et les voies les plus appropriées pour éradiquer la pauvreté et améliorer le niveau de vie des masses populaires. Malgré leurs incarnations multiples, deux courants théoriques contradictoires continuent d’animer le débat sur ce sujet. Il s’agit du courant hégémonique véhiculé par les pays occidentaux et les institutions financières internationales sous leur contrôle, et le courant contre-hégémonique des progressistes africains. Quelles leçons pouvons-nous tirer de ces deux approches contradictoires sur les défis du développement en Afrique?Desde as independências africanas, várias teorias foram formuladas sobre os desafios do desenvolvimento na África e as formas mais adequadas de erradicar a pobreza e melhorar o padrão de vida das massas populares. Apesar de suas encarnações múltiplas, duas correntes teóricas contraditórias continuam a animar o debate sobre o assunto. Uma é a corrente hegemônica defendida pelos países ocidentais e pelas instituições financeiras internacionais sob seu controle, e a contra-corrente levada a efeito pelos progressistas hegemônicos africanos. Que lições podemos tirar dessas duas abordagens contraditórias para os desafios do desenvolvimento na África

Introduction

I am extremely proud to present this sixth volume of our undergraduate research journal in the Department of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies. Some of the papers in this issue were originally presented at our annual undergraduate research conference, where the best of our students exhibit their love of learning and commitment to research in the sciences and the humanities

The Covid-19 Pandemic and State Fragility: The Case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The COVID-19 pandemic provided a test for political systems all over the world, and more so for developing countries with less endowed hospitals and public health facilities. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) faced this challenge when the pandemic was at its height, but the country registered a smaller number of both patients infected with the disease and those who died from it in comparison to developed countries. The most important lesson from the pandemic for the DRC is the need to improve hospital and other public health facilities in the country for all citizens

Contagion or Confusion? Why Conflicts Cluster in Space

Civil wars cluster in space as well as time. In this study, we develop and evaluate empirically alternative explanations for this observed clustering. We consider whether the spatial pattern of intrastate conflict simply stems from a similar distribution of relevant country attributes or whether conflicts indeed constitute a threat to other proximate states. Our results strongly suggest that there is a genuine neighborhood effect of armed conflict, over and beyond what individual country characteristics can account for. We then examine whether the risk of contagion depends on the degree of exposure to proximate conflicts. Contrary to common expectations, this appears not to be the case. Rather, we find that conflict is more likely when there are ethnic ties to groups in a neighboring conflict and that contagion is primarily a feature of separatist conflicts. This suggests that transnational ethnic linkages constitute a central mechanism of conflict contagion. © 2008 International Studies Association

‘Savage times come again’ : Morel, Wells, and the African Soldier, c.1885-1920

The African soldier trained in western combat was a figure of fear and revulsion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. My article examines representations of African soldiers in nonfictional writings by E.D. Morel about the Congo Free State (1885-1908), the same author’s reportage on African troops in post-First World War Germany, and H.G. Wells’s speculative fiction When the Sleeper Wakes (1899, 1910). In each text racist and anti-colonialist discourses converge in representing the African soldier as the henchman of corrupt imperialism. His alleged propensity for taboo crimes of cannibalism and rape are conceived as threats to white safety and indeed supremacy. By tracing Wells’s connections to the Congo reform campaign and situating his novel between two phases of Morel’s writing career, I interpret When the Sleeper Wakes as neither simply a reflection of past events in Africa or as a prediction of future ones in Europe. It is rather a transcultural text which reveals the impact of European culture upon the ‘Congo atrocities’, and the inscription of this controversy upon European popular cultural forms and social debates

Från Zaire till Demokratiska republiken Kongo

En redogörelse för 1997 års händelser i f.d. Zaire och hur en politisk och social förändring kan komma till stånd. Innehåller också en historisk bakgrund till de senaste årens händelser

From Zaire to the Democratic Republic of the Congo

This paper examines the political and social situation in the DRC since May 1997, together with the prospects for a successful political and social transition. Consistent with the deepest aspirations of the Congolese population, such a transition will succeed if it involves an irreversible development towards multiparty democracy and the full utilisation of the country’s immense resources for economic and social development. In other words, a successful transition is one in which basic freedoms and liberties will be guaranteed through democratic governance and the rule of law, with tangible improvements in living conditions.2nd, revised ed. -- CONTENTS -- THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT -- The Legacy of Authoritarianism -- The Impact of the National Conference -- The Informalisation of the Economy -- FROM MOTUTU SESE SEKO TO LAURENT-DÉSIRÉ KABILA -- The Seven-Month War to Overthrow the Mobutu Regime -- A New Dictator for the Congo -- The War for Congo’s Natural Resources -- THE NEED FOR A SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION -- Managing the Political Transition -- Economic and Social Reconstruction Implications for the Great Lakes Region</p

From Zaire to the Democratic Republic of the Congo

This paper examines the political and social situation in the DRC since May 1997, together with the prospects for a successful political and social transition. Consistent with the deepest aspirations of the Congolese population, such a transition will succeed if it involves an irreversible development towards multiparty democracy and the full utilisation of the country’s immense resources for economic and social development. In other words, a successful transition is one in which basic freedoms and liberties will be guaranteed through democratic governance and the rule of law, with tangible improvements in living conditions

Ethnicity and State Politics in Africa

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