This article introduces a collection of papers that treat the question of governance in conditions of protracted crises in Subsahara Africa. Contrary to the widespread belief that African conflicts are little more than (undoubtedly complex and intractable) instances of anarchy and chaos, the authors present the reader with tangible evidence of the existence of non-state governance processes by constituencies attempting to manage the perils of long periods of violent strife and state failure. Their aim is to move beyond the purely empirical and to theorize and situate such phenomena of non-state governance in the broader context of political and social change that is currently reshaping Africa. Key words: protracted crisis, non-state governance, political order
This article proposes an explanation for the emergence of non-state governance in situations of apparent state collapse, based on an ethnographic study of the armed rebellion in Butembo (eastern Democratic Republic of Congo). The model of explanation is inspired by Charles Tilly's description of state making as organized crime, in which armed rebels and private economic agents enter an agreement for private protection. The study seeks to explain how an original meeting between Butembo's armed rebels of the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie -Mouvement de Libération (RCD-ML) and an existing network of cross-border traders actually led to a 'pluralizing' moment, in which the reinterpretation of existing relations and regulatory practices contributed to a gradual transformation of the institutional framework and local governance. Recently, this local political order has entered into increasing competition with the internationally induced project of political 'transition', based on a conflict between dynamics of state building and translocal political (trans)formation.
It has been said repeatedly: the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) remains only a shadow of its former self, a typical case of state failure and collapse. Closer observation suggests a different image, however: not only has this country demonstrated “a remarkable propensity for resilience” (Englebert, 2003), its administration and regulatory frameworks – which in some domains have not changed since colonial times – have remained largely intact even during the latest period of war and political turmoil. In this article, we would like to explain these different “cross currents and contradictions” (Young, 2004) that emerged during the past Congolese war, addressing the question of whether processes of state erosion and political reconfiguration during this period should be described as a further “privatisation of the state”, as proposed by Hibou and others, or rather as a transformation or commodification of state sovereignty. The article is organized diachronically: it first discusses the Mobutu period (1965-1997), and then the war (1996-2003), to finally draw some conclusions from Congo’s long period of political “transition”. Key words: Congo, conflict, non-state regulation, Armed groups
This article traces the geography of the "conflict minerals" campaign and its impact on artisanal mining in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, a region that currently emerges as a pioneer case of traceability and due diligence efforts with regard to the exploitation and trade in tantalum, tungsten and tin. We subsequently analyse the opening and attempted closure of the Congolese resource frontier in the context of recent market reform, and we describe how this process has accompanied a transnational corporate-government nexus bent on monopolising Congo's artisanal 3 T resources. Specifically, we argue how the conflict minerals campaign and its implementation "on the ground" has brought about a harmful, disruptive logic for an artisanal mining sector that is notoriously categorised as unruly, illegal, and informal, but of which upstream stakeholders have in practice been jeopardised by transnational reform. We thus shift the attention from questions on the political economy of "resource wars" towards a deeper understanding of the intersecting spaces of production and regulation that underpin formalisation and traceability of "conflict minerals" in this protracted conflict environment. Résumé: Cet article retrace la géographie de la campagne contre les «minerais de conflit» et son impact sur l'exploitation minière artisanale à l'est de la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC), une région qui émerge actuellement comme un cas pionnier d'efforts de traçabilité et de diligence raisonnable à l'égard de l'exploitation et du commerce de tantale, tungstène et étain (3 T). Nous analysons l'ouverture et la fermeture tentative de cette «frontière de ressources» en RDC dans le contexte de cette intervention récente, et nous décrivons comment ce processus accompagne l'émergence d'un assemblage transnational qui soutient une monopolisation progressive des ressources artisanales 3 T. Précisément, nous analysons la façon dont la campagne contre les «minerais de conflit» et sa mise en oeuvre «sur terrain» a provoqué une logique néfaste et disruptive pour un secteur d'exploitation minière artisanale qui est notoirement jugé indiscipliné, illégal et informel, mais dont les parties prenantes en amont de la chaine d'approvisionnement ont été largement mis en péril. Nous déplaçons ainsi l'attention sur l'économie politique des «guerres de ressources» en portant l'analyse vers une compréhension plus profonde des espaces d'intersection entre production et régulation qui proposent la formalisation et traçabilité des minerais comme solution aux problèmes plus larges liés aux conflits armés.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.