Congo
Page 77
Two studies in particular showed me that it is not sufficient to look only to the regimes of Rwanda and Uganda when it comes to the raw-materials robbery in the eastern Congo; there are other players as well, both “downstream” and “upstream.” Network War: An Introduction to Congo’s Privatised War Economy by Tim Raeymaekers (IPIS, 2002) pointed out the crucial role of private, “nonstate actors” in today’s globalized world, while Koen Vlassenroot and Hans Romkema showed how normal Congolese citizens also profited: “The Emergence of a New Order? Resources and War in Eastern Congo,” Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (2002).
Concerning the consequences of the war at the local level, social and otherwise, Koen Vlassenroot and Tim Raeymaekers edited the noteworthy compilation, Conflict and Social Transformation in Eastern Congo (Ghent, Belgium, 2004). Among others, the anthropological chapter by Luca Jourdan, “Being at War, Being Young: Violence and Youth in North Kivu,” was one I read with great interest. As early as June 2002, Human Rights Watch published a report on sexual violence: The War within the War. For the ecological impact of the conflict, I consulted both the UNESCO report Promoting and Preserving Congolese Heritage: Linking Biological and Cultural Diversity (2005) and the ambitious survey Forests in Post-Conflict Democratic Republic of Congo, edited by L. Debroux et al. (2007).
CHAPTER 13
The political and military aspects of the transitional period are described clearly in the above-mentioned works by Reyntjens and Prunier. The most detailed study once again comes from Gauthier de Villers, De la guerre aux élections (Tervuren, Belgium, 2009), with which he completed his trilogy on Zaïre/Congo during the long transition from the Second to the Third Republic (Villers, 1997, 2001, 2009). The thoroughgoing character of these studies makes them a reference work for the period 1990–2008, like the yearbooks published by the CRISP for the period 1959–1967.
This chapter deals in some detail with the interplay between multinational concerns, pop music, Pentecostalism, and the mass media in urban Congolese society. Because these are recent phenomena, no integral studies have yet been written. Theodore Trefon’s compilation, Reinventing Order in the Congo: How People Respond to State Failure in Kinshasa (London, 2004), contains a number of fine contributions. The standard work on life in the capital, however, is Filip De Boeck’s masterful anthropological study, Kinshasa, Tales of the Invisible City (Ghent, Belgium, 2004), illustrated with photos by Marie-Françoise Plissart. Two of his doctoral students, Kristien Geenen and Katrien Pype, have in recent years published admirable studies of Kinshasa’s street children, youth gangs, and religious soap operas. In 2010 De Boeck himself released the documentary Cemetery State, about youth and death in a city that eludes description.
Information about pop music I gleaned from the Internet and from countless conversations with Congolese people. In addition, my most important sources were Rumba on the River by Gary Stewart (London, 2000) and Rumba Rules by Bob White (Durham, NC, 2008). To the best of my knowledge, no systematic research has been carried out into Heineken’s activities in Africa. In 2008 the Dutch television broadcaster RTL made the rather superficial and patriotic documentary Een Hollands biertje in Afrika. The documentary dealt solely with Bralima in Kinshasa, with a main role reserved for Dolf van den Brink, and can be seen on that broadcaster’s website.
In addition to Katrien Pype’s work dealing with religious broadcasters, I received insights into the workings of the Congolese media from Marie-Soleil Frère’s Afrique centrale, médias et conflits: Vecteurs de guerre ou acteurs de paix (Brussels, 2005) and her more recent articles. For the impact of mobile telephony in Africa, see Mirjam de Bruijn et al., Mobile Africa: Changing Patterns of Movement in Africa and Beyond (Leiden, The Netherlands, 2001).
Concerning the rise of charismatic Christianity, I consulted, among other sources, Gerrie Ter Haar’s How God Became African: African Spirituality and Western Secular Thought (Philadelphia, 2009). The interaction with the recent history of migration is described in Emma Wild-Wood’s Migration and Christian Identity in Congo (Leiden, The Netherlands, 2008). For more about the rise of the Congolese diaspora in Europe, see Zana Etambala’s In het land van de Banoko (Leuven/Louvain, Belgium, 1993) for Belgium, and Marc Tardieu’s Les Africains en France (Monaco, 2006) for France. For the much more recent community in London, see the interviews collected by David Garbin and Wa Gamoka Pambu in Roots and Routes: Congolese Diaspora in Multicultural Britain (London, 2009).
A few articles in newspapers and magazines have described the interaction between popular culture and politics. In “La victoire en chantant” in Jeune Afrique (2006), Luc Olinga investigated the impact of Congolese pop music on the 2006 elections. Marie-Soleil Frère, in “Quand le pluralisme déraille” in Africultures (2007), looked at the influence of commercial and religious television on the electoral campaign.
In the field of cinematography, see Congo River by Thierry Michel (2005) for a lively impression of Congo during the transitional years, and Congo na biso by Chuck de Liedekerke and Yannick Muller (2006) for a lucid political approach. Lieve Joris’s Het uur van de rebellen (Amsterdam, 2006) is a courageous book about the uphill battle to reform the Congolese army.
CHAPTER 14
Few books have yet appeared, of course, about the most recent phase of Congolese history. A highly readable account of the first free elections in decades was written by the Congolese Alphonse Muambi, who returned briefly to his former fatherland as an international observer, Democratie kun je niet eten (Amsterdam, 2009).
The early days of the Third Republic are described in two widely divergent works. In Vers la deuxième indépendance du Congo (Brussels, 2009), Le Soir journalist Colette Braeckman presents a cautiously optimistic view, while the compilation edited by Theodore Trefon, Réforme au Congo (RDC): Attentes et désillusions (Tervuren, 2009), strikes a much more somber note. In addition to the regular printed media, I sought and found further documentation in Mo magazine, Le Monde Diplomatique, and Jeune Afrique. The blogs by Colette Braeckman (at lesoir.be) and Jason Stearns (congosiasa.blogspot.com) were a great help in placing the recent developments in their proper perspective. I also profited greatly from the razor-sharp analyses distributed by Kris Berwouts as director of EurAc, the umbrella organization of European NGOs active in Central Africa.
The websites of the International Crisis Group (crisisgroup.org) and Human Rights Watch (hrw.org) are without equal when it comes to conflict analysis and fieldwork concerning human rights violations. The macroperspective provided by the former is equaled only by the detailed, on-the-ground observations of the latter. For years, both NGOs have been doing outstanding work that not only pleases historians, but above all aims to save human lives.
The websites of Le Potentiel and Radio Okapi, the best newspaper and the best radio broadcaster in Congo, respectively, allowed me to keep up to date on daily current events in the country even from a distance. Rapper Alesh, who I interviewed in Kisangani, can also be heard on the Radio Okapi website. A number of brave Congolese NGOs have recently started distributing reports on the Internet: special mention here goes to Asadho (Association Africaine de Défense de Droits de l’Homme), Rodhecic (Réseau d’Organisations des Droits Humains et d’Éducation Civique d’Inspiration Chrétienne), and Journaliste en Danger.
Concerning the intricacies of the tumult in Katangan mining, Thierry Michel made the interesting documentary Katanga Business (2009). I owe much to the reports from IPIS, RAID, Global Witness, and Resource Consulting Services.
In recent years a few good studies have appeared dealing with the growing Chinese presence in Africa. For an analytical approach, see Chris Alden, China in Africa (London, 2007), and Serge Michel and Michel Beuret’s La Chinafrique (Paris, 2009) for a most lively journalistic account. Outstanding by reason of its balanced approach is the study by Martine Dahle Huse and Stephen L. Muyakwa, “China in Africa: Lending, Policy Space, and Governance” (www.afrika.no, 2008). I found a fine analysis of the Congolese-Chinese con
tract in Stefaan Marysse and Sara Geenen, “Les contrats chinois en RCD: l’impérialisme rouge en marche?” L’Afrique des Grands Lacs (2007–2008).
CHAPTER 15
Little research has been carried out into Guangzhou’s African community. The first academic articles are now seeing the light of day, but are generally very descriptive in nature. See Brigitte Bertoncelo and Sylvie Bredeloup, “The Emergence of New African ‘Trading Posts’ in Hong Kong and Guangzhou,” China Perspectives (2007) and Li Zhang, “Ethnic Congregation in a Globalizing City: The Case of Guangzhou, China” (www.sciencedirect.com, 2008). See also Zhigang Li, Desheng Xue, Michael Lyons, Alison Brown “Ethnic Enclave of Transnational Migrants in Guangzhou” (asiandrivers.open.ac.uk, 2007), and Adams Bodomo, a Ghanian professor in Hong Kong, “The African Trading Community in Guangzhou,” China Quarterly (2010). I learned a great deal from my conversations with the Belgian consul Frank Felix, with the Flemish economic attaché and sinologist Koen De Ridder, and with the China-based Congolese journalist Jaffar Mulassa; as stated, however, I learned the most from talking to those directly involved.
NOTES
INTRODUCTION
1. Booven 1913: 23–24.
2. http://www-odp.tamu.edu/publications/175_SR/chap_11/c11_3.htm.
3. Julien 1953: 10.
4. Northrup 2002: 18–21; McLynn 1992: 321–22; Hilton 1985: 50.
5. Hilton 1985: 80.
6. Jadin 1968.
7. Hilton 1985: 69–84.
8. Vansina 1990: 86.
9. Harms 1981: 3–5.
10. Harms 1981: 21–9.
11. Harms 1981: 3.
12. Northrup 2002: 113–14.
13. Harms 1981: 54.
14. Vansina 1965: 146–52.
15. http://neveu01.chez-alice.fr/birasouf.htm.
CHAPTER 1
1. Makulo Akambu 1983: 15.
2. Makulo Akambu 1983: 15–16.
3. Bontinck 1974: 250.
4. Stanley 1899: 210, 212.
5. Jeal 2007: 199.
6. Jeal 2007: 469.
7. Vansina 1976: 30.
8. Wesseling 1991: 119.
9. Stengers 1997: 275.
10. Makulo Akambu 1983: 18.
11. Makulo Akambu 1983: 20–30.
12. Bontinck 1974: 269–71.
13. Jeal 2007: 274–76.
14. Stanley 1886: 2:147, 151–52.
15. Jeal 2007: 276.
16. Harms 1981: 33.
17. Makulo Akambu 1983: 32–34.
18. Fabian 2000: 103.
19. McLynn 1992: 322.
20. Johnston 1908: 222–24.
21. Bentley 1900: 81.
22. Bentley 1900: 126.
23. Johnston 1908: 328.
24. Alexander L. Bain, registry card, archival collection, Board of International Ministries (BIM), American Baptist Historical Society, Atlanta, GA.
25. Slade 1959: 154; Braekman 1961: 129–36, 351.
26. Etambala 1987: 237–85.
27. Ernest T. Welles, registry card, archival collection, Board of International Ministries (BIM), American Baptist Historical Society, Atlanta, GA.
28. Jeal 2007: 464–75.
29. Makulo Akambu 1983: 36.
30. Bailey 1894: 161–63.
31. Denuit-Somerhausen 1988: 77–146.
32. Wesseling 1991: 126.
33. Jeal 2007: 277–78.
34. Stengers 1989: 58–9.
35. Maquet-Tombu 1952: 56.
CHAPTER 2
1. Stengers and Vansina 1985: 351.
2. Ndaywel è Nziem 1998: 289–92.
3. Van der Smissen 1920: 425.
4. Vellut 2005b: 247.
5. Jeal 2007: 281.
6. Vansina and Stengers 1985: 351.
7. Jeal 2007: 294.
8. Makulo Akambu 1983: 36–37.
9. Etambala 1987.
10. Etambala 1993.
11. Maquet-Tombu 1952.
12. Meeuwis 1999.
13. Hawker 1909: 244.
14. Picard 1896: 161.
15. Bailey 1894: 246.
16. New York Times, April 16, 1899.
17. Lauro 2005: 78.
18. Makulo Akambu 1983: 38.
19. Makulo Akambu 1983: 38–39.
20. Makulo Akambu 1983: 45.
21. Hemmens 1949: 27.
22. Johnston 1908: 328.
23. Makulo Akambu 1983: 58.
24. Makulo Akambu 1983: 68–69.
25. Makulo Akambu 1983: 70.
26. Makulo Akambu 1983: 71.
27. Makulo Akambu 1983: 80–81.
28. Interview with Étienne Nkasi, Kinshasa, December 8, 2008.
29. Sadin 1918.
30. Sadin 1918: 16–17.
31. Sadin 1918: 20.
32. Travaux du Groupe d’Études Coloniales 1912: 7.
33. Travaux du Groupe d’Études Coloniales 1912: 7.
34. Sadin 1918.
35. Sadin 1918: 68.
36. Van Acker 1924: 164.
37. Interview with Victor Masunda Kukana, Boma, October 8, 2008.
38. Interview with Camille Mananga Nkanu, Boma, October 9, 2008.
39. Makulo Akambu 1983: 40–44.
40. Michaux 1913: 46, 52.
41. Flament 1952: 509, 516.
42. Flament 1952: 81–82.
43. Interview with Eugène Yoka Kinene, Kinshasa, November 11, 2008.
44. Joye and Lewin 1961: 18.
45. Stengers 1957: 32.
46. Stengers 1997: 277.
47. Stengers 1997: 240.
48. Catherine 1994: 126–30.
49. Interview with Martin Kabuya, Kinshasa, October 16, 2008.
50. Gann and Duignan 1979: 97; Poel 2006: 1, 26.
51. Van der Poel 2006: 1:8–30.
52. Interview with Etienne Nkasi, Kinshasa, November 6 and 10, 2008.
53. Goffin 1907: 79.
54. Interview with Étienne Nkasi, Kinshasa, November 10, 2008.
55. Vangroenweghe 2005: 376; Stengers 1989: 102.
56. Makulo Akambu 1983: 79–80.
57. FOD Buitenlandse Zaken, Africa archives, papers E. Janssens, D1366, 27/12/1904.
58. FOD Buitenlandse Zaken, Africa archives, papers E. Janssens, D1366, 12/12/1904.
59. FOD Buitenlandse Zaken, Africa archives, papers E. Janssens, D1366, 2/1/1905.
60. FOD Buitenlandse Zaken, Africa archives, papers E. Janssens, D1366, 12/12/1904.
61. FOD Buitenlandse Zaken, Africa archives, papers E. Janssens, D1366, 3/1/1905.
62. FOD Buitenlandse Zaken, Africa archives, papers E. Janssens, D1366, 22/11/1904.
63. FOD Buitenlandse Zaken, Africa archives, papers E. Janssens, D1366, 12/12/1904.
64. Bosschaerts 2007: 216.
65. FOD Buitenlandse Zaken, Africa archives, papers E. Janssens, D1366, 5/1/1905.
66. Vangroenweghe 1985: 64.
67. Vangroenweghe 1985: 62.
68. Marechal 2005: 45–46.
69. Johnston 1908: 378–79.
70. Stengers 1989: 109.
71. Johnston 1908: 380.
72. Singleton-Gates and Girodias 1959: 120–22.
73. Singleton-Gates and Girodias 1959: 114.
74. Janssens 1905: 197.
75. Cattier 1906: 341.
76. Cornevin 1963: 129; Gann and Duignan 1979: 79; Stengers and Vansina 1985: 346, 354.
77. Makulo Akambu 1983: 85.
CHAPTER 3
1. Thiel 1982: 20; Boelaert et al. 1995: 36–117.
2. Stanley 1886: 2:214.
3. Maquet-Tombu 1952 .
4. Cornevin 1963: 173–228; Stengers 1989.
5. Young 1968: 23.
6. De Meulder 2000: 50.
7. Cornevin 1963: 187.
8. Vanderkerken 1920: 235.
9. Vanderkerken 1920: 234.
10. Van Wing 1959: 128–29.
11. Carton de Wiart 1923: 70–71.
12. Cattier 1906: 321.
13. Cattier 1906: 322.
1
4. Couttenier 2005: 225.
15. Van Overbergh 1913: viii.
16. De Jonghe 1908: 304.
17. Van Overbergh 1913: 181.
18. Van Overbergh 1913: 183.
19. Depaepe et al. 2003: 233, 236.
20. Vinck 2002.
21. Depaepe et al. 2003: 191.
22. Frères Maristes 1927: 30–31.
23. Vinck 2002.
24. Kalundi Mango, interviewed by Johannes Fabian, Lubumbashi, June 1986, http://www2.fmg.uva.nl/lpca/aps/vol4/vocabulairekalundicomments.html.
25. Kaoze 1910.
26. Chalux 1925: 125.
27. Interview with Étienne Nkasi, Kinshasa, November 6, 2008.
28. Chalux 1925: 111–14.
29. Chalux 1925: 122–25.
30. Interview with Étienne Nkasi, Kinshasa, November 10, 2008.
31. Stengers 1989: 213–14.
32. Cornet 1944: 261.
33. Stengers 1989: 215.
34. Carton de Wiart 1923: 93.
35. Carton de Wiart 1923: 5.
36. Chalux 1925: 204.
37. Buelens 2007: 405.
38. Carton de Wiart 1923: 83.
39. Merlier 1962: 130.
40. Jewsiewicki 1988: 231–32.
41. Foire Internationale d’Elisabethville 1962: 71–73.
42. Yav 1965: 29.
43. Yav 1965: 5.
44. Brausch 1961: 21–22.
45. Higginson 1989: 33.
46. Higginson 1989: 35.
47. Chalux 1925: 79.
48. Yav 1965: 7.
49. Northrup 1988: 97–99.
50. Chalux 1925: 209.
51. Joye and Lewin 1961: 184.
52. Kimoni Iyay 1990: 155–82.
53. Vandewalle 1966: 45.
54. Banque Centrale du Congo 2007.
55. Chalux 1925: 147.
56. Boelaert et al. 1995.
57. Delcommune 1920: 26.
58. Cayen 1938: 58.
59. Cayen 1938: 47–54.
60. Cornevin 1963: 176–77.
61. Geernaert n.d.