From Autochthony to Violence? Discursive and Coercive Social Practices of the Mai-Mai in Fizi, Eastern DR Congo

This article explores the links between autochthony discourses and physical violence through a case study of a Mai-Mai group in the eastern DR Congo. While this group garners support by employing such discourses and related tropes ofautodéfense(self-defense), there are clear limits to the capacity of these narratives to mobilize for and legitimize violent action. Furthermore, much of the violence committed by the Mai-Mai is not informed directly by notions of autochthony, but is rather geared toward the consolidation of power. This observation should act as a caution against the a priori coding of violence according to the ways it is discursively framed by its protagonists

Action (physics · Consolidation (business · Content (measure theory · Linguistics · Narrative · Political science · Power (physics · Sociology · Cambodian History and Society · Gender Studies · Mathematics · Peacebuilding and International Security · Political Conflict and Governance

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