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ABSTRACT
This article analyzes the interaction of the traces of war with institutional hybridity in shaping the use of space in the periphery of Bukavu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. In peri-urban Bukavu, the urbanization of previously rural areas has created an uncertain mixture of land allocation mechanisms that are not adequately explained by representation in terms of a clash or mixture of statutory and customary law. This hybridity has created uncertainty for both newcomers and early settlers in which the othering and violence required to justify both encroachment on, and the protection of, land are supported by discourses of autochthony. Large parts of peri-urban Bukavu, in particular the area of Kasha, are gradually being balkanized by quasi-voluntary socio-spatial practices of segregation by ethnicities whose existence and salience are constantly, and at times forcibly, re-negotiated. While initially perceived as a safe haven, the city’s periphery is becoming an area of acute insecurity.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Gillian Mathys for her feedback on earlier versions of this paper as well as the two anonymous reviewers for their instructive feedback as this current paper took shape.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 Beall and Goodfellow, “Post-war Transition,” 24.
2 Büscher et al., this special issue.
3 Muhigwa, “State of Bukavu,” 25–29.
4 Head of Personnel, office of Land Registry (Le cadastre). Interview by first author. Field notes. Bukavu, 29 November 2013.
5 Vlassenroot and Huggins, “Land, migration and conflict,” 131.
6 See also Peyton, this special issue.
7 See also Mathys and Büscher, this special issue.
8 Mugisho, “Situation politique Kivu,” 307–333.
9 Vlassenroot, South Kivu identity, 13.
10 Büscher et al., this special issue.
11 Beall and Goodfellow, “Post-war Transition,” 21.
12 Claessens et al., “Competition over soil.”
13 Van Acker, “Enclose social struggle;” Vlassenroot and Huggins, “Land migration conflict.”
14 Peemans, “Land grabbing.”
15 Meagher, “Strength weak states.”
16 Atanasijevic, “Natural resource governance.”
17 Boege et al., “Hybrid political orders.”
18 Lemay-Hébert and freedman, “Critical Hybridity,” 3.
19 Büscher et al., this special issue.
20 Warrick, “Describing Hybrid,” 205.
21 Stepputat, “Cotemporary Governscapes,” 32.
22 Goodfellow and Lindemann, “The clash of institutions,” 7; Jacob, “tradition du pluralisme institutionnel.”
23 Balthasar, “Hybridity to Standardization,” 7.
24 Lund, “Twilight Institutions,” 686.
25 Ibid., 692.
26 Bayart, State in Africa.
27 Schatzberg, Father, family, food.
28 Albrecht and Moe, “Simultaneity of authority.”
29 See also Peyton, this special issue.
30 Vlassenroot, South Kivu identity, 14; Mathys, People on the move.
31 Vlassenroot, South Kivu identity, 14.
32 Ibid., 15.
33 Ibid., 15.
34 Muchukiwa, Territoires ethniques; Hoffmann, Ethnogovernmentality.
35 Mathys and Büscher, this special issue.
36 Muderhwa Tebura Damien, former bourgmestre of Kasha. Interview with first author. Ibanda, Bukavu. Field notes. 2 December 2013.
37 Data used for this map were derived from interviews conducted at and maps from the communal office of Bagira.
38 Mwami Désiré Kabare. Interview with first author, Kabare. Field notes. 9 November 2013.
39 Baliana “le vieux”. Interview with first author. Quartier Kanoshe, Kasha. Field notes. 21 November 2013.
40 Kaluma, “Distribution d’eau potable.”
41 Mathys and Büscher, this special issue.
42 Muderhwa Tebura Damien, former bourgmestre Kasha. Interview with first author. Ibanda, Bukavu. Field notes. 2 December 2013.
43 Mwami Désiré Kabare, Interview with first author, Kabare. Field notes. 9 November 2013.
44 Martin Bashirzi Nshagi II, Chef de quartier Cikonyi. Field notes. 7 November 2013.
45 Peyton reports on similar transactions taking place in North Kivu, this special issue.
46 See also Peyton, this special issue.
47 Ibid.
48 Baliana “le vieux”. Interview with first author. Quartier Kanoshe, Kasha. Field notes. 21 November 2013.
49 Dunn, “’Sons of the Soil.”; Jackson, “Sons of which soil?”; Jackson, “Of doubtful nationality.”
50 Geschiere and Jackson, “Autochthony crisis citizenship.”
51 Ibid., 5–6.
52 Bøås, “’New’ Nationalism and Autochthony,” 21.
53 Dunn, “Sons of the Soil,” 121.
54 Théophile. Interview with first author. Avenue Luganda, quartier Kanoshe. Field notes. 10 November 2013.
55 Baliana “le vieux”. Interview with first author. Quartier Kanoshe. Field notes. 21 November 2013.
56 Similar accounts of violence against non-autochthonous populations have been reported in this special issue by Mathys and Buscher with regards to the Mungote refugee camp in North Kivu as well as by Cottyn with reference to the urbanizing center of Nyamata in Rwanda.
57 Interview with first author, Quartier Kanoshe. Field notes. 28 October 2013.
58 Chef d’avenue in quartier Ciriri. Interview with first author. Quartier Ciriri. Field notes. 5 May 2011.
59 Dunn, “Sons of the Soil,” 123.
60 Bøås, “’New’ Nationalism and Autochthony.”
61 Hilgers, “L’autochtonie comme capital.”
62 Landau, “Idioms belonging and dislocation.”
63 Interview with first author. Quartier Cikera. Field notes. 2 November 2013.
64 Interview with first author. Quartier Mulwa. Field notes. 18 November 2013.
65 Interview with first author. Quartier Kanoshe. Field notes. 10 November 2013.
66 See Meagher et al., “Unravelling public authority”; See Cleaver, “Institutional bricolage.”
67 Interview with first author. Quartier Nyakavogo, Bagira. Field notes. 22 May 2011.
68 Interview with first author. Quartier Nyakavogo, Bagira. Field notes. 22 May 2011.
69 Interview with first author. Quartier Kanoshe, Kasha. Field notes. 20 November 2013.
70 Interview with first author. Quartier Kanoshe, Kasha. Field notes. 10 November 2013.
71 Mushi, “Insecurity and Local Governance,” 15.
72 Cottyn reports similar sentiments in her analysis of rural growth centers in Rwanda, this special issue.
73 Mwami Désiré Kabare, Interview with first Author, Kabare, 19 November 2013.
74 See Mugangu, “La crise foncière RDC.”
75 Beall and Goodfellow, “Post-war Transition,” 23.
76 Ibid., 24.