State-Building and Peacebuilding in Somalia

2019 ◽  
pp. 203-214
Author(s):  
Thania Paffenholz ◽  
Constance Dijkstra ◽  
Andreas Hirblinger
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
State Building ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
Informed Decisions ◽  
Building Process

This chapter provides insights on pertinent issues for Somalia's state-building process by examining how other countries have experienced state-building and peace-building, with a particular focus on the inclusion and exclusion of certain actors. The aim is to help policymakers make more informed decisions and avoid mistakes that have been generated in other contexts. The chapter focuses on four key themes that are relevant to the context of Somalia: the role of extremist armed groups, the influence of elites, the devolution of power, and the constitution-drafting processes. It is shown that the peace-building and state-building processes of Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, and Yemen are of particular relevance for Somalia.

The Role of Gender in Agent Banking: Evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Chamboko ◽  
Robert Cull ◽  
Xavier Gine ◽  
Soren Heitmann ◽  
Fabian Reitzug ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Republic Of Congo

scholarly journals “Refugee Voices,” New Social Media and Politics of Representation: Young Congolese in the Diaspora and Beyond

Refuge ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Godin ◽  
Giorgia Doná
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Politics Of Representation ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
Media And Politics ◽  
The Creation

This article examines the role of new social media in the articulation and representation of the refugee and diasporic “voice.” The article problematizes the individualist, de-politicized, de-contextualized, and aestheticized representation of refugee/diasporic voices. It argues that new social media enable refugees and diaspora members to exercise agency in managing the creation, production, and dissemination of their voices and to engage in hybrid (on- and offline) activism. These new territories for self-representation challenge our conventional understanding of refugee/diaspora voices. The article is based on research with young Congolese living in the diaspora, and it describes the Geno-cost project created by the Congolese Action Youth Platform (CAYP) and JJ Bola’s spoken-word piece, “Refuge.” The first shows agency in the creation of analytical and activist voices that promote counter-hegemonic narratives of violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, while the second is an example of aesthetic expressions performed online and offline that reveal agency through authorship and ownership of one’s voice. The examples highlight the role that new social media play in challenging mainstream politics of representation of refugee/diaspora voices.

scholarly journals Navigating social spaces: armed mobilization and circular return in Eastern DR Congo

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koen Vlassenroot ◽  
Emery Mudinga ◽  
Josaphat Musamba
Keyword(s):  
Social Mobility ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Social Spaces ◽  
Dr Congo ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
Refugee Studies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Pendular State

Abstract This article discusses the social mobility of combatants and introduces the notion of circular return to explain their pendular state of movement between civilian and combatant life. This phenomenon is widely observed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where Congolese youth have been going in and out of armed groups for several decades now. While the notion of circular return has its origins in migration and refugee studies, we show that it also serves as a useful lens to understand the navigation capacity between different social spaces of combatants and to describe and understand processes of incessant armed mobilization and demobilization. In conceptualizing these processes as forms of circular return, we want to move beyond the remobilization discourse, which is too often connected to an assumed failure of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration processes. We argue that this discourse tends to ignore combatants’ agency and larger processes of socialization and social rupture as part of armed mobilization.

The Catholic Church and the Kivu Conflict

2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gérard Prunier
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Conflict ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
North And South ◽  
The Catholic Church

AbstractThis paper examines the role of the Catholic Church in the armed conflict that has engulfed the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since 1993. The conflict itself has two dimensions. Since 1996 the DRC has been at the centre of a major war that has spilled well beyond its borders, embroiling neighbouring states and others further afield. Less well known is the local struggle, in the eastern part of the country in the two provinces of North and South Kivu, which began three years earlier. While having a dynamic of its own, Kivu's fate has become entwined in the wider international conflict. Given its large constituency and immense wealth and infrastructure, the Catholic Church has come to wield enormous influence in the DRC, particularly in the context of a declining state. It was a key player in the movement for democratisation in the early 1990s and more recently it has sought to offer moral guidance on the conflict. But its attempts to adopt a superior moral outlook have been severely tested by the fact that its clergy are now thoroughly zairianised, and have come to embody the ethnic and political prejudices of their respective communities.

Collective Victimization and Subjectivity in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Why Do Lasting Peace and Justice Remain Elusive?

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Mukwiza Ndahinda
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Fragmented Landscape ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
Independent State ◽  
Peace And Justice ◽  
Private Domain

The Democratic Republic of Congo has experienced patterns of mass victimization since the country’s inception. As a private domain of King Leopold ii of Belgium, a Belgian colony or an independent state; the country has undergone numerous episodes of violence affecting not only individuals but also entire communities. Socio-political and economic crises have been accompanied by inter-ethnic violence, mostly in eastern provinces. Over the last decade, various mechanisms have been explored in attempts to address past atrocities. In addition to ongoing prosecutions before the International Criminal Court, a number of domestic initiatives have been or are still being explored. The present article examines the suitability of these mechanisms against the backdrop of the politically and ethnically fragmented landscape in the country. The inquiry examines whether domestic or international peace-building processes address not only individual forms of victimization but also subjective experiences and perceptions of collective victimhood.

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