During funerals of nobles in the Kuba kingdom (Democratic Republic of Congo), visitors used to theatrically offer so-called bongotols to the deceased and the mourning family. These highly... Show moreDuring funerals of nobles in the Kuba kingdom (Democratic Republic of Congo), visitors used to theatrically offer so-called bongotols to the deceased and the mourning family. These highly appreciated valuables were either positioned under the corpse to support it or displayed on top of it.In addition to their religious meanings they also displayed the status and wealth of both givers and takers. Visitors would receive similar items in return. Afterwards the bongotols were stashed until, on occasion of a next burial, they would continue their cycles of gift and counter gift among the titled Kuba aristocracy. Death and display brings ethnographic research and archival sources to bear on these intriguing heirlooms. Their rich iconography offers a kaleidoscope of traditional Kuba sociality, cosmology and ritual. Show less
Western donor countries consider a proper functioning multiparty democracy as one of the most import conditions for achieving more legitimate governance and subsequently economic development and... Show moreWestern donor countries consider a proper functioning multiparty democracy as one of the most import conditions for achieving more legitimate governance and subsequently economic development and reduction of poverty in their partner countries. Support to free and fair elections is an integral part of the ‘good governance’ agenda of the traditional donor community. On the basis of the findings of this study, it appears however that it is not so much the acceptance of Western type political institutions or compliance with generally endorsed liberal-democratic standards that determine the possibilities for developing countries to achieve economic transformation and substantial poverty reduction, but rather the nature of the political settlement among the political elites. Show less
This thesis focuses on liberal peace building in the DRC. The thesis takes a critical approach which emphasises local agencies and their engagements with liberal peace building. However, it seeks... Show moreThis thesis focuses on liberal peace building in the DRC. The thesis takes a critical approach which emphasises local agencies and their engagements with liberal peace building. However, it seeks to bring this critique back to the institutions with which liberal peace building is preoccupied, by focusing on the hidden local that operates within these institutions. This approach seeks to give new meaning to processes of institution building without rendering institutions irrelevant as a top-down approach. Focusing on the first legislature of the Congolese Third Republic (2006-2011) this thesis provides a case study of how local agencies consume liberal democracy within the National Assembly, and make it their own. It discusses current liberal peace building practices as a process of mutual disengagement, in which both the local and liberal intervention seek to disengage from each other. Although this results in a lack of legitimacy of the peace building project both locally as well as with liberal interventions, it also creates hybrid space in which local agencies consume liberal democracy. The thesis conceptualises these local agencies as being convivial, in other words, they are enabled by people's relations. The thesis therefore focuses on MPs relations with their electorate, as well as with the executive and other MPs in their party or ruling coalition. In through these interactions local agencies consume liberal democracy - it is accepted, rejected, diverted, substituted, etc. The thesis concludes that through these practices of consumption local agencies negotiate liberal democracy. The liberal democratic framework is kept intact, but it is not enabled to function as foreseen, because local agencies are responsive to a moral matrix of the father-family. However, the liberal democratic framework itself provides new tools through which local agencies also renegotiate the unwritten rules of the moral matrix of the father-family. Show less
Ordinary social violence, - i.e. recurrent mental or physical aggression occurring between closely related people - structures social relationships in Africa, and in the world. Studies of violence... Show moreOrdinary social violence, - i.e. recurrent mental or physical aggression occurring between closely related people - structures social relationships in Africa, and in the world. Studies of violence in Africa often refer to ethnic wars and explicit conflicts and do not enter the hidden domain of violence that this book reveals through in-depth anthropological studies from different parts and contexts in Africa. Ordinary violence has its distinctive forms embedded in specific histories and cultures. It is gendered, implicates witchcraft accusations, varies in rural and urban contexts, relates to demographic and socio-economic changes of the past decades and is embedded in the everyday life of many African citizens. The experience of ordinary violence goes beyond the simple notion of victimhood; instead it structures social life and should therefore be a compelling part of the study of social change. Show less
The voices of orphans and other vulnerable children and young people and of their carers and professional development workers are documented and analysed to both criticise the inadequacies of... Show moreThe voices of orphans and other vulnerable children and young people and of their carers and professional development workers are documented and analysed to both criticise the inadequacies of current social development work and to create a new, alternative theory and practice of project management in Zimbabwe and southern Africa. This is the first extensive and intensive empirical study of Zimbabwean orphans and other vulnerable children and young people. Chronically poor children and their carers can be corrupted or silenced by management systems which fail to recognise their basic human needs. Resilience in the face of such adversity is celebrated by the dominant project management ideology and practice but is a major barrier to achieve genuine sustainable improvements in the lives of vulnerable children. We propose a new person-centred project management approach aimed at delivering comprehensive services for orphans, which explicitly recognises the needs of orphans and other poor children to be fully socially, politically and economically included within their communities and which avoids the reinforcement of power based inequalities and their unacceptable consequences. The moral bankruptcy of much social development work in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Southern Africa is described and we delineate an alternative project management policy and practice. Show less
Evers, S.J.T.M.; Notermans, C.; Ommering, E. van 2011
Cette thèse de doctorat montre la manière dont des femmes originaires de la République démocratique du Congo, dans une période de crise et dans le contexte de la mondialisation, au Congo et dans la... Show moreCette thèse de doctorat montre la manière dont des femmes originaires de la République démocratique du Congo, dans une période de crise et dans le contexte de la mondialisation, au Congo et dans la diaspora congolaise, retrouvent leur identité propre parmi ou en dépit des nombreuses contradictions qui affectent leur situation. Le travail de terrain qui sous-tend cette recherche a été centré sur une filiale d'un mouvement charismatique kinois, "Le Combat Spirituel". Les données ont été rassemblées parmi des groupes de prière du "Combat" aux Pays-Bas, en Belgique, et dans de moindres proportions, en République démocratique du Congo. L'aliénation et les contradictions qu'éprouvent les individus dans leur vie quotidienne créent pour ceux-ci des conflits existentiels, et font qu'ils se mettent à la recherche d'une structure qui correspond mieux au contexte dans le quel ils vivent. Les questions centrales de l'ouvrage sont: quels projets culturels propose le mouvement du "Combat" à ses membres, et quels sont les facteurs qui le rendent si attirant pour des femmes des classes économiques moyennes? Le rituel thérapeutique du "Combat" révèle une dynamique culturelle et les grands processus de changement au Congo. Il a aussi un rôle de médiation dans diverses situations conflictuelles. L'auteur constate l'absence d'une rupture avec le passé. Grâce à une sélection de références au Nouveau et à l'Ancien Testaments, les femmes produisent un univers culturel qui fonctionne comme une confirmation de ce qu'elles connaissaient déjà. [Résumé ASC Leiden] Show less
