The Political Economy of Migration and Reputation in Kinshasa

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2102736
AutoresJoseph Trapido (autor de correspondencia)
Año2011
Volumen81
Número2
Páginas204-225
Fecha de publicación2011-05-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAfrica (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0001-9720 • E-ISSN: 1750-0184
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0001972011000064
OpenAlexW2087398936
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas10
Referencias citadas35

This essay presents a history of themikiliste, the high-livingbon vivantwho travels to Europe and is a central figure in Kinois urban mythology. It looks in particular at the highly theatrical exchanges engaged in by themikiliste,which relate especially to music patronage and to designer clothing. I show how these exchanges have evolved over time, both shaping and being shaped by the political economy of Kinshasa. The essay shows how such aesthetic performances should not be discussed in isolation from wider political-economic considerations. Those who participate in economies of prestige must be connected to a material base, and the ruling class, with their access to the resources of the interior, have become ever more important participants in themikilisterituals of largesse. Recently, the violent contestation ofmikilisteexchange, both in Europe and in Kinshasa, indicates that such moments of largesse may be involved in reproducing political-economic relations in the Congolese capital

Art · Capital (architecture · Clothing · Economics · Economy · Mythology · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Prestige · Reputation · Sociology · African Studies and Ethnography · Cultural Identity and Heritage · French Urban and Social Studies · Law