L’Afrique centrale francophone entre au XXIe siècle: Citoyens et États, nations, régions face au monde

Abstract

This special issue is the successor to Volume 18 Number 1 of the Canadian Journal of African Studies, published in 1984 under the title, “État indépendant du Congo, Congo belge, République démocratique du Congo, République du Zaïre?” The title of that special issue devoted to the political and social crisis in the Republic of Zaire ended with a question mark, implicitly asking: What next for Republic of Zaire? The present special issue offers a reply, one nobody expected fifteen years ago. At least symbolically, the country has recovered its identity as an independent contemporary polity, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Many authors in this issue argue that forty years of independence were mainly a time of violence, destruction, and pillaging. Ilunga Kabongo suggests that the global crises was so deep in the mid-1990s that people would vote for anyone able to restore normal life, the return of coloniser included. Once a regional power, the Congo of today is a toy in hands of its neighbours, some of them being very small countries such as Rwanda which is deeply resented by the Congolese. The circle of violence seems to have engulfed local society, starting from the 1990 massacre of university students on the Lubumbashi campus. Even if, for the first time in a century, the war in and over the Congo is a regional African affair, it is difficult to rejoice as it is more the result the lack of interest from the world powers than the proof of Central African political independence. The issue is organised in the manner allowing the reader to look first at the regional situation, mainly that of the French-speaking countries. Given the importance of Uganda and of Museveni, both as a political and military local power and as a model of a new leader, an analysis of his autobiography by Ron Kassimir is included. As often as it was possible, the voice of social scientists working and living in the region is heard. In little more than three years, between the time this issue was initiated in late 1996 and the time of its publication, many of them were forced into exile. It is an important characteristic of the present day situation. In addition to social science analyses, some local voices are included in order to help readers to grasp local perceptions and local efforts to understand the ongoing life, to find a way out. As far as Congolese social scientists are concerned, we have publish articles of scholars belonging to three generations: those who were mainly educated abroad and came to national universities in the early 1970s; those who were mainly educated at local universities and who came to teaching and research in the 1980s; those who were educated in the 1990s, partially locally and partially abroad. It is important to note that many of those scholars were in the meantime forced to expatriate. The comparison of their understanding of what is going on can help us to appreciate Congolese social thought. One central fact emerges, more from the search for peace and comments of local urban intellectuals than from scholarly essays. Today, while the borders of the Congo are disregarded by various national armies and foreign intervention forces, while local markets depend more on foreign exchange than on local currency, while the country is de facto divided into four more or less autonomous parts, ordinary people feel Congolese and refuse partition as well as secession. Should one conclude that in the deepest crises of its twentieth-century political history a nation is born, that it is born despite the demise of political institutions?