https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6714-9307
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ABSTRACT
The re-emergence of competitive elections in Africa has sparked new interest in political mobilization on the continent. Much of this literature focusses on political actors and the strategies they use to mobilize. If the campaign activists are reviewed at all, they are often categorized by their ethnic or religious affiliation. Thereby, abilities and potentials for political participation, which are important within conceptual literature on political mobilization, are side-lined. This article uses an activist-centered perspective to review the political mobilization of motorcycle taxi drivers, eastern Congo. Based on empirical research in 2020 and 2021, it evaluates the mobilization potentials of the so-called motards and their deployment during political action. The article finds that motards possess unique potentials for participating in political campaigns due to their mobility and large social networks but only partially deploy them. While their mobility potential is widely utilized, the mobilization of their social networks is hampered by a lack of allegiances and infrequent contacts with politicians. Based on the research findings, the article advocates expanding the perception of political mobilization in Africa by reflecting on the preconditions of mobilizability such as enabling potentials, interactions with activists and aligned political strategies.
Acknowledgements
I want to thank Prof. Martin Doevenspeck for his continuous support during the research and writing processes. Without him, this article would not have been possible. I would also like to thank Juste Aganze Chibembe and Samuel Mathe for their valuable support during the data collection. Finally, I want to thank Prof. Néné Mworisho and his team at Pole institute for their support my stays in Goma.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Data availability statement
Data available on request from the authors. The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.
Notes
1 van Acker, Vlassenroot, and Musamba, “Returning to Society,” 6.
2 c.f. for this journal: Oldenburg, “Agency, Social Space and Conflict-urbanism in Eastern Congo”; Ehebrecht, Heinrichs, and Lenz, “Motorcycle-taxis in Sub-Saharan Africa”
3 c.f. Diaz Olvera, Plat, and Pochet, “Looking for the Obvious,” 2.
4 Titeca, “The Commercialization of Uganda’s 2011 Election in the Urban Informal Economy”.
5 Philipps and Kagoro, “The Metastable City and the Politics of Crystallisation”.
6 Möller and Doevenspeck, “The Fast and the Victorious”.
7 Paget, “Election Campaigns and Political Mobilization in Africa,” 1; c.f. Lockwood, “Protest Brokers and the Technology of Mobilization”; Molm, Schaefer, and Collett, “The Value of Reciprocity”.
8 Oldenburg, “Agency, Social Space and Conflict-urbanism in Eastern Congo”.
9 Bob-Milliar, “Political Party Activism in Ghana,” 680.
10 e.g. Abramson and Claggett, “Recruitment and Political Participation”; Strömblad and Myrberg, “Urban Inequality and Political Recruitment”; Gerber and Green, “Field Experiments on Voter Mobilization”.
11 Rosenstone and Hansen, Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America; Kershaw, “Mobilizing the Mobilized”.
12 e.g. Lockwood, Krönke, and Mattes, “Party Structures and Organization Building in Africa”; Cheeseman and Hinfelaar, “Parties, Platforms, and Political Mobilization”; Paget, “Election Campaigns and Political Mobilization in Africa”.
13 Koter, “Africa and Ethnic Politics”; Nathan, “Local Ethnic Geography, Expectations of Favoritism, and Voting in Urban Ghana”; McCauley, “The Political Mobilization of Ethnic and Religious Identities in Africa”.
14 Cox, Rosenbluth, and Thies, “Mobilization, Social Networks, and Turnout”; Skoric, Ying, and Ng, “Bowling Online, Not Alone”.
15 Sopranzetti, “Owners of the Map”.
16 Munyaka and Yadavalli, “Using Transportation Problem in Humanitarian Supply Chain to Prepositioned Facility Locations,” 206.
17 Kumar, Understanding the Emerging Role of Motorcycles in African Cities, 16.
18 Kikangala Ntambwe et al., “Profil et appreciation du metier de conducteur de mototaxis (motard) a Kabinda, Republique Democratique du Congo,” 26.
19 Carayannis and Pangburn, “Home is Where the Heart is,” 710.
20 Interview: Registration officer Bukavu (28821MYKBu).
21 Interview: Motard leader Goma (17821KKLGo).
22 Verweijen, The Ambiguity of Militarization, 163.
23 c.f. Diaz Olvera et al., “Earning a Living, But at What Price?,” 169.
24 van Acker, Vlassenroot, and Musamba, “Returning to Society,” 7; Carayannis and Pangburn, “Home is Where the Heart is”.
25 Kikangala Ntambwe et al., “Profil et appreciation du metier de conducteur de mototaxis (motard) a Kabinda, Republique Democratique du Congo,” 33.
26 Oldenburg, “Dead End?” 67.
27 Interview: Association secretary Goma (25821RKGo).
28 Oldenburg, “Dead End?” 78.
29 van Acker, Vlassenroot, and Musamba, “Returning to Society,” 5; Oldenburg, “Agency, Social Space and Conflict-urbanism in Eastern Congo,” 267f.
30 Paget, “Election Campaigns and Political Mobilization in Africa,” 2.
31 Gallagher et al., “Explaining Activism Amongst Fine Gael Members”; Bob-Milliar, “Political Party Activism in Ghana”; Whiteley and Seyd, High-intensity Participation.
32 Brady, Schlozman, and Verba, “Prospecting for Participants,” 154.
33 Gershtenson, “Mobilization Strategies of the Democrats and Republicans, 1956–2000,” 293.
34 c.f. Moskalenko and McCauley, “Measuring Political Mobilization,” 243.
35 Abramson and Claggett, “Recruitment and Political Participation,” 907.
36 Kershaw, “Mobilizing the Mobilized,” 426; Brady, Schlozman, and Verba, “Prospecting for Participants,” 154.
37 Klandermans and Oegema, “Potentials, Networks, Motivations, and Barriers,” 519.
38 Mutsvairo, Digital Activism in the Social Media Era, 5; Manacorda and Tesei, “Liberation Technology,” 533.
39 c.f. Krueger, “A Comparison of Conventional and Internet Political Mobilization,” 772; Rosenstone and Hansen, Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America, 16.
40 Gershtenson, “Mobilization Strategies of the Democrats and Republicans, 1956–2000,” 294.
41 Sopranzetti, “Owners of the Map,” 139.
42 Kershaw, “Mobilizing the Mobilized,” 426; Osa and Schock, “A Long, Hard Slog,” 129.
43 c.f. Tilly, From Mobilization to Revolution, 11.
44 Sopranzetti, “Owners of the Map,” 123.
45 c.f. Rosenstone and Hansen, Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America, 30f.
46 c.f. Sheller and Urry, “The New Mobilities Paradigm”; Cresswell, “Towards a Politics of Mobility,” 17–31.
47 c.f. Cresswell, “Towards a Politics of Mobility,” 19.
48 Manderscheid, “Mobile Ungleichheiten”.
49 Paget, “Campaign Modernization without Mediatization,” 1.
50 Sopranzetti, “Owners of the Map,” 136; Titeca, “The Commercialization of Uganda’s 2011 Election in the Urban Informal Economy,” 203.
51 Manderscheid, “Mobilität,” 557.
52 Rosenstone and Hansen, Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America, 26.
53 Cox, Rosenbluth and Thies, “Mobilization, Social Networks, and Turnout,” 448.
54 Cox, Rosenbluth and Thies, “Mobilization, Social Networks, and Turnout”.
55 Lockwood, “Protest Brokers and the Technology of Mobilization,” 630.
56 Wielhouwer, “The Mobilization of Campaign Activists by the Party Canvass,” 178; Cowburn, “The Transformation of the Congressional Primary,” 110.
57 Samuels and Zucco, “Crafting Mass Partisanship at the Grass Roots,” 773; Green and Schwam-Baird, “Mobilization, Participation, and American Democracy,” 5.
58 Skoric, Ying, and Ng, “Bowling Online, Not Alone,” 416.
59 Klandermans and Oegema, “Potentials, Networks, Motivations, and Barriers,” 2; Corning and Myers, “Individual Orientation Toward Engagement in Social Action,” 708.
60 Urry, “Social Networks, Mobile Lives and Social Inequalities,” 24.
61 c.f. Freyburg and Garbe, “Blocking the Bottleneck”.
62 Enos, Fowler, and Vavreck, “Increasing Inequality,” 286.
63 c.f. Blattman et al., “Eat Widely, Vote Wisely?,” 8; Koter, “Costly Electoral Campaigns and the Changing Composition and Quality of Parliament,” 576.
64 Koter, “Africa and Ethnic Politics,” 247; Osa and Schock, “A Long, Hard Slog”.
65 Karp and Banducci, “Party Mobilization and Political Participation in New and Old Democracies,” 218; Kershaw, “Mobilizing the Mobilized,” 426.
66 Karp and Banducci, “Party Mobilization and Political Participation in New and Old Democracies,” 219.
67 Ibid., 229.
68 Kershaw, “Mobilizing the Mobilized”; Huckfeldt and Sprague, “Political Parties and Electoral Mobilization”; Gershtenson, “Mobilization Strategies of the Democrats and Republicans, 1956–2000”; Karp and Banducci, “Party Mobilization and Political Participation in New and Old Democracies”.
69 Whiteley and Seyd, High-intensity Participation, 51f.
70 c.f. Lockwood, “Protest Brokers and the Technology of Mobilization”.
71 Karp and Banducci, “Party Mobilization and Political Participation in New and Old Democracies,” 229.
72 Peiris, “Examining Party Allegiance,” 184.
73 Goldstein and Ridout, “The Politics of Participation,” 22.
74 Hollyer, Rosendorff, and Vreeland, “Transparency, Protest, and Autocratic Instability,” 766.
75 Bob-Milliar, “Place and Party Organizations”; Rasmussen and van Stapele, “Our Time to Recover,” 727.
76 Bowles, Larreguy, and Liu, “How Weakly Institutionalized Parties Monitor Brokers in Developing Democracies,” 953.
77 Lockwood, “Protest Brokers and the Technology of Mobilization,” 640.
78 Golooba-Mutebi, “The Cost of Politics in Uganda,” 5.
79 Lockwood, “Protest Brokers and the Technology of Mobilization,” 640.
80 c.f. Wielhouwer, “The Mobilization of Campaign Activists By the Party Canvass,” 179.
81 Ibid.
82 Enos, Fowler, and Vavreck, “Increasing Inequality,” 284.
83 Rosenstone and Hansen, Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America, 25ff.
84 Moskalenko and McCauley, “Measuring Political Mobilization”; Corning and Myers, “Individual Orientation Towards Engagement in Social Action”.
85 Peiris, “Examining Party Allegiance,” 640.
86 McCauley, “The Political Mobilization of Ethnic and Religious Identities in Africa,” 801.
87 Rosenstone and Hansen, Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America, 15; Whiteley and Seyd, High-intensity Participation, 65.
88 e.g. Gershtenson, “Mobilization Strategies of the Democrats and Republicans, 1956–2000,” 293.
89 Corning and Myers, “Individual Orientation Toward Engagement in Social Action,” 706.
90 Whiteley and Seyd, High-intensity Participation, 55.
91 c.f. Paget, “Lone Organizers: Opposition Party-building in Hostile Places in Tanzania,” 223.
92 Fjelde and Höglund, “Electoral Institutions and Electoral Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa,” 301; Vokes, “Primaries, Patronage, and Political Personalities in South-western Uganda”.
93 Rosenstone and Hansen, Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America.
94 c.f. Wielhouwer, “The Mobilization of Campaign Activists By the Party Canvass,” 180.
95 Tilly, From Mobilization to Revolution, 11.
96 Rosenstone and Hansen, Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America, 26.
97 Enos, Fowler, and Vavreck, “Increasing Inequality”.
98 Johnston and Pattie, “Representative Democracy and Electoral Geography,” 338.
99 Hollyer, Rosendorff, and Vreeland, “Transparency, Protest, and Autocratic Instability,” 769.
100 e.g. Aimé and Alexis, “Des Conditions D'Exercice du Transport Par Taxi-Motos Dans la Ville de Lubumbashi,” 251.
101 e.g. Oldenburg, “Agency, Social Space and Conflict-urbanism in Eastern Congo,” 266.
102 Interview: Politician Bukavu (10921AMBu).
103 Oldenburg, “Maisha ni kuvumiliya,” 43.
104 Interview: Motard Goma (18821PXGo).
105 Interview: Motard leader Goma (25821KLGo).
106 Interview: Motard Bukavu (12921XXBu).
107 Interview: Motard Bukavu (11921KABu).
108 c.f. Hannam, Sheller, and Urry, “Editorial”.
109 Interview: Journalist Bukavu (11921BSBu).
110 Interview: Motard Goma (160821LHGo).
111 c.f. Trapido, “Masterless Men,” 204.
112 Interview: Politician Bukavu (6921EHBu).
113 Interview: Motard leader Goma (21821KMGo).
114 Interview: Motard Bukavu (11921KABu).
115 Interview: Motard Goma (17821AAGo).
116 Interview: Motard leader Goma (7821COGo).
117 Interview: Motard leader Goma (7821COGo).
118 c.f. Whiteley and Seyd, High-intensity Participation, 83.
119 Interview: Motard Bukavu (12921XXBu).
120 Interview: Motard Bukavu (12921XXBu).
121 Interview: Politician Bukavu (6921EHBu).
122 Verweijen, “The Ambiguity of Militarization,” 204.
123 c.f. Aimé and Alexis, “Des Conditions D'Exercice du Transport Par Taxi-Motos Dans la Ville de Lubumbashi,” 251.
124 Interview: Motard Goma (17821FSGo).
125 Interview: Politician Bukavu (6921EHBu).
126 Interview: Motard Goma (16821KEGo).
127 Observation: 14.09.2021 Goma, Avenue de la Paix.
128 Interview: Motard Bukavu (11921KABu).
129 Interview: Motard Goma (14821BNGo).
130 Interview: Motard Goma (16821TJGo).
131 Interview: Motard Bukavu (11921KABu).
132 Interview: Politician Goma (11821WLGo).
133 Interview: Motard Goma (11821SLGo).
134 Interview: Motard Goma (14821BNGo).
135 Molm, Schaefer, and Collett, “The Value of Reciprocity,” 212.
136 Paget, “Campaign Modernization without Mediatization,” 5; Golooba-Mutebi, “The Cost of Politics in Uganda,” 5.