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Why Congo Persists: Sovereignty, Globalization and the Violent Reproduction of a Weak State

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Globalization, Violent Conflict and Self-Determination

Part of the book series: St Antony’s Series ((STANTS))

Abstract

Wherever one looks, many elements conspire to suggest that the Democratic Republic of Congo should have collapsed some time ago under the multiple assaults of its own inadequacies as a state, the extreme heterogeneity and polarization of its populations, and the dislocations of globalization and foreign occupation. Yet Congo has gone on defying such expectations and has continued to display a stunning propensity for resilience. This chapter addresses this paradox.

This chapter was written in early 2003. A substantially longer version is available as Queen Elizabeth House Working Paper WPS 95, February 2003, (http://www2.qeh.ox.ac.uk/pdf/qehwp/qehwps95.pdf). It benefited from the superb research and editorial assistance of Rebecca Hummel, Lisa Mueller and Stacy Tarango, and from the insightful comments of Francesca Bomboko, Paule Bouvier, Abdul Raufu Mustapha, Denis Tuli and Crawford Young.

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Authors
  1. Pierre Englebert
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Editor information

Valpy FitzGerald Frances Stewart Rajesh Venugopal

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© 2006 Pierre Englebert

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Englebert, P. (2006). Why Congo Persists: Sovereignty, Globalization and the Violent Reproduction of a Weak State. In: FitzGerald, V., Stewart, F., Venugopal, R. (eds) Globalization, Violent Conflict and Self-Determination. St Antony’s Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230502376_6

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