Lezing 'A Longue-Durée History of Violence in the Congo Basin’
- Voor wie
- Alumni , Medewerkers , Privépersonen , Studenten
- Wanneer
- 24-04-2025 van 10:00 tot 12:00
- Waar
- Paviljoen Vandenhove, Rozier 1, 9000 Ghent
- Voertaal
- Engels
- Door wie
- Department of History - Faculty of Arts and Philosophy
- Contact
- dorien.slotman@ugent.be
Elaborating on previously published material, this paper by Giacomo Macola draws on the concept of “warlordism” to make sense of the bloody history of the Congo basin between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries.
After examining the rise of "warlord states" in the second half of the nineteenth century, the era of the long-distance caravan trades in ivory and slaves, the paper argues that these politico-military formations anticipated, and therefore easily adapted to, the looting economy of the Congo Free State. The paper then raises the question of historical continuities and asks whether the concept of warlordism is helpful in accounting for the Congo’s exceptionally violent postcoloniality.
Giacomo Macola teaches at "La Sapienza" University of Rome. A specialist in Central African political history, he is the author of e.g. The Gun in Central Africa: A History of Technology and Politics (Ohio University Press, 2016).