Reinventing Order in the Congo: How People Respond to State Failure in Kinshasa

by Theodore Trefon (editor)

Kinshasa is sub-Saharan Africa's second largest city. The seven million Congolese who live there have a rich reputation for the courageous and innovative ways in which they survive in a harsh urban environment. They have created new social institutions, practices, networks and ways of living to deal with the collapse of public provision and a malfunctioning political system.

This book describes how ordinary people, in the absence of formal sector jobs, hustle for a modest living; the famous 'bargaining' system ordinary Kinois have developed; and how they access food, water supplies, health and education. The NGO-ization of service provision is analysed, as is the quite rare incidence of urban riots. The contributors also look at popular discourses, including street rumor, witchcraft, and attitudes to 'big men' such as musicians and preachers. This is urban sociology at its best - richly empirical, unjargonized, descriptive of the lives of ordinary people, and weaving into its analysis how they see and experience life.

Genres: Africa, Politics

234 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Fred Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable for an academic book. It's a 10 year old book but not a lot has changed in those years. It's a very good, concise way to see how the basic structure of a city of 9 million people works without any real government or formal economy. People still eat, drink, work and get around. I was reading this while in the Congo, so it helped put things in perspective.

[Nahid Naghshbandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

این کتاب مجموعه‌ای از مقالات درباره نحوه زندگی، کار و روابط درشهر کینشاسای کنگو است. این مقالات آکادمیک هرکدام موارد خاصی را مورد بررسی قرار میدهند. همچون وضعیت غذا، آب، شغل، کودکان، اهمیت خرافات و شایعات در زندگی واقعی مردم و ... خواندن این مقالات در کنار هم می‌توانند تصویری محو از آنچه در این شهر می‌گذرد را به خواننده بدهند. اینکه چگونه مردم با همبستگی و با خلاقیت سعی میکنند با وجود کمبودهای فراوان دولت خود را با شرایط وفق دهند و از پس زندگی هر روزه برآیند و نجات پیدا کنند. بعضی از مقالات زبانی بسیار جذاب و نمونه‌‌ها و مثال‌هایی روشن و قابل تامل دارند و بعضی دیگر شاید بیشتر دیدگاهی تنها آکادمیک، خشک و بدون انعطاف داشته باشند.

[Terence Beney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Informative, providing useful observations that can inform the perspectives and analyses of others working in the DRC and cities like Kinshasa. However, a broader theoretical framework doesn’t emerge and many of the chapters fall short of the rigor expected of academic work. Positions more honestly presented as opinions are liberally offered adjacent to better substantiate pieces. An annoying feature. Valuable, but I will cite its content with caution.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Considering this is basically a textbook, it's not that dry an pretty interesting. That being said; it basically boils down to life in the DRC is pretty terrible, yet somehow people find a way to survive...then a couple of chapters about witchcraft at the end.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit academic, but given the number of books written about Kinshasa, I shouldn't complain.