Violence and Everyday Interactions Between Katangese and Kasaians

Memory and Elections in Two Katanga Cities

Bibliographic Data

ID2103014
AuthorsSandrine Vinckel (corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume85
Issue1
Pages78-102
Publication date2015-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfrica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0001-9720 • E-ISSN: 1750-0184
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s000197201400076x
OpenAlexW2129198566
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited11

Since 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

Democracy · Legislature · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Presidential election · Presidential system · Sociology · Victory · African history and culture studies · African Studies and Ethnography · Cultural Identity and Heritage · Law

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