scholarly journals “Prétendre comme si on connaît pas une autre langue que le swahili”: Multilingual parents in Norway on change and continuity in their family language policies

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (255) ◽  
pp. 109-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Purkarthofer ◽  
Guri Bordal Steien
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
Changing Environments ◽  
The Past ◽  
Family Language

Abstract In this article, we examine how parents explain their choices of transmitting certain languages to their children, a key element of family language policies (FLP), in light of their dynamic linguistic repertoires and biographic experiences. Contributing to the framework of FLP, we focus in particular on parents’ memories, their narratives of multilingual upbringing in the past, and how these are used to construct present FLP. We analyze conversations where six multilingual parents in Norway talk about their experiences and intentions regarding FLP, and in particular, their reasons for the transmission of (some of their) languages to their children. The parents of three of the families are from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and in three others at least one of the parents migrated from Germany. We find that the parents align their decisions with both prior and new experiences. They relate to their language(s), their past and their current family life, and express the wish for continuity across the lifespan. At the same time, they demonstrate a certain flexibility and willingness to adapt to the constantly changing environments that they and their children experience and in which they navigate. Through their complex accounts, their memories and lived language experiences, we can understand parents’ manifold positions as regards their children’s linguistic repertoires.

BRINGING HISTORY BACK IN: PAST, PRESENT, AND CONFLICT IN RWANDA AND THE EASTERN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

2017 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
GILLIAN MATHYS
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
Historical Discourse ◽  
The Past

AbstractThis article argues that on the borderland between eastern DRC and Rwanda, the past and its representations have been constantly manipulated. The cataclysmic events in both Rwanda and Congo since the 1990s have widened the gap between partial and politicized historical discourse and careful historical analysis. The failure to pay attention to the multiple layers in the production of historical narratives risks reproducing a politicized social present that ‘naturalizes’ differences and antagonisms between different groups by giving them more time-depth. This is a danger both for insiders and outsiders looking in. The answer is to focus on the historical trajectories that shape historical narratives, and to ‘bring history back in’.

scholarly journals VIOLENCE AND EVERYDAY INTERACTIONS BETWEEN KATANGESE AND KASAIANS: MEMORY AND ELECTIONS IN TWO KATANGA CITIES

Africa ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandrine Vinckel
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Mass Violence ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
The Past ◽  
Crisis Situation ◽  
Two Cities ◽  
Daily Interactions ◽  
Legislative Election

ABSTRACTSince the mass violence committed by Katangese against non-natives – mostly Kasaians – in the early 1990s in the Katanga province (Democratic Republic of Congo), Katangese and Kasaians have eschewed subjects relating to the past violence in their daily interactions. However, during the November 2011 presidential and legislative election period, expressions linked to the past violence, such as ‘This time, you will go back home by foot’ or ‘This time, you will not drive us out. We will fight’, were common. The paper documents and analyses how Kasaians and Katangese dealt with the memory of the violence during this election period, in Likasi and Kolwezi, two cities particularly affected by violence. Based on qualitative fieldwork research conducted between November 2011 and January 2012, the paper understands the November 2011 election as being a crisis situation informed by the fear of a violent outbreak in the event of the victory of Etienne Tshisekedi, leader of the opposition and a Kasaian. This crisis situation led to the simplification and polarization of collective identities: whether friend, neighbour or colleague, a person was perceived only as a Kasaian or a Katangese. In such a context, routine practices of coexistence based on self-censorship and avoidance tended to disappear.

Regional Political Leadership and Policy Integration in Great Lakes Region of Africa

2018 ◽  
pp. 267-277
Author(s):  
Yvan Yenda Ilunga
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Great Lakes Region ◽  
Policy Integration ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
Rwandan Genocide ◽  
The Past

For the past two decades, following the Rwandan genocide in 1994, the Great Lakes Region of Africa has become a conflict-ridden zone marked by mass violations of human rights and political instabilities. Part of these instabilities and violence is due to the lack of strong and stable political leadership and institutions in many of the countries in the region. In 1996, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was plagued by the uprising of the rebel movement called the Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo-Zaïre. This movement was a coalition of Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda, along with Congolese people. However, the AFDL victory was short-lived since the coalition parties broke up their alliance in 1998, which led to a new cycle of conflict which continued to destabilize the DRC to date with its Eastern provinces being most affected. In addition to conflict within the DRC, political instability and crisis of legitimacy of political leadership in South Sudan, Burundi, and the Central African Republic have also exacerbated the instability in the region. In this chapter, the author argues that peace and stability in the Great Lakes Region of Africa would depend on how best several facets of policies are integrated into one operational framework for peace and stability.

Uncovering the Legitimacy of Possible Causes of Conflict in African States

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Mastrocola
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
Causal Factors ◽  
Rwandan Genocide ◽  
The Past ◽  
Causal Mechanisms

There has been prominent conflict and intense violence throughout African countries in the past and recent years. This paper will present research regarding the effectiveness of proposed causal mechanisms contributing to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The plausible causes which may have led to the escalation of conflict in Rwanda during the 1990’s will be discussed. However, a key concept which seemed to lack further analysis when discussing the origin of conflict in Rwanda was the “why” aspect. As my research discusses, there has been similar causal mechanisms outlined and prevalent among various case studies in Africa. Therefore, an imperative question to ask is: Why has the intensity of violence differed between certain African countries that share the existence of similar causal factors? Specifically, I focus on the effectiveness of Belgian colonialism as a contributing factor to the Rwandan genocide and the lack of legitimacy of primordial classification (traditional and static claims depicting similar characteristics which are shared among groups and people). I compare the effects of these possible causes by analyzing the case studies of Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in an attempt to explain the differences in the levels of violence witnessed in all three countries which were significantly affected by Belgian colonialism and ethnic classifications of people.

scholarly journals The Consequences of Rape During Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Dettke
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
First World War ◽  
Nation State ◽  
World War ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
The Past ◽  
First World

“I rape because of the need. After that I feel like a man.” These are the words of a rebel soldier who ruthlessly roams the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in search of his next victims. Rape has been used in the past during warfare to weaken populations and ruin communities and family bonds but never to the extent witnessed in the DRC today. Literally, tens of thousands of women have been raped and this number is most likely largely underestimated. The conflict has been called Africa’s First World War and one of the deadliest since World War II with the death toll reaching 5.4 million in a decade. Ending sexual violence as a weapon of the DRC war remains one of the greatest challenges to the protection of women’s rights. The psychological and physical repercussions of the mass rape of women, children and sometimes even men in the DRC will undermine the capacity of the Congolese people to trust each other. It is possible that the experience of rape and violence could prevent the country from ever being capable of effectively building a nation state.

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