Zaire for Jesus: Ford Philpot’s Evangelical Crusades in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1966-1978

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-28
Author(s):  
Jeremy Rich

Abstract This essay explores how Congolese Protestants developed a partnership with Kentucky-born Methodist evangelist Ford Philpot from 1966 to 1978. Philpot’s revival tours allowed Congolese clergy to negotiate as equals with U.S. Protestants, marking a major change from the dominant role of missionaries prior to independence in 1960. During and after Philpot’s crusades Congolese Protestants wrote Philpot about their spiritual views and their troubles in Mobutu’s Zaire. Instead of being merely passive followers of Philpot’s evangelical and charismatic preaching, Congolese sought to use him as a source of financial patronage as well as spiritual support. This essay questions common assumptions regarding U.S.-Congolese ties under Mobutu, and investigates how the rise of evangelical Christianity in postcolonial Africa was clearly shaped by cold war concerns as well as anxieties over national identity and the rise of African dictatorships.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Chamboko ◽  
Robert Cull ◽  
Xavier Gine ◽  
Soren Heitmann ◽  
Fabian Reitzug ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Maria Fernanda Affonso Leal ◽  
Rafael Santin ◽  
David Almstadter De Magalhães

Since the first peacekeeping operation was created until today, the UN has been trying to adapt them to the different contexts in which they are deployed. This paper analy- ses the possibility of a bigger shift happening in the way the United Nations, through the Security Council, operates their Peacekeeping Operations. The change here ad- dressed includes, mainly, the constitution of more “robust” missions and the newly introduced Intervention Brigade in the Democratic Republic of Congo. By presenting three missions (UNEF I, UNAMIR and MONUSCO) deployed in different historic periods, we identified various elements in their mandates and in the way these were established which indicate a progressive transformation in the peacekeeping model since the Cold War - when conflicts were in their majority between States – until present days, when they occur mostly inside the States.


Refuge ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Godin ◽  
Giorgia Doná

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.


2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gérard Prunier

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.


Author(s):  
Green James A

This chapter considers the Great African War of 1998-2003. The first section sets out the factual context of the interventions of Uganda, Rwanda and (on a much lower scale) Burundi in the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It also considers the counter-force employed by the DRC and other states acting in support of the DRC’s government. The second section considers the positions of the main state protagonists on both sides, as well as of international organisations and states not involved in the conflict. The third section analyses the legality of the actions of the various states involved, including – but not limited to – a consideration of the 2005 International Court of Justice merits decision in the Armed Activities (DRC v Uganda) case. The ad bellum implications of the conflict stretch beyond that decision, but the proceedings at the Court have become its primary legacy in this context.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 25-36
Author(s):  
Valerie Higgins

This paper examines the changing attitudes of young Albanian archaeologists to Albania’s archaeological heritage. As Cold War archaeologists retire and are replaced by a generation trained after the fall of communism, this paper asks how their different world perspective will influence the future direction of archaeology. Particular issues that are addressed are the perceived role of the Illyrians in national identity and the willingness of young archaeologists to embrace new types of heritage sites, such as industrial and Cold War archaeology. Examples of the latter are very prominent in the Albanian landscape, but their interpretation and incorporation into the national narrative are still contentious issues for many.


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