Reinventing order in the Congo : how people repond [i.e. respond] to state failure in Kinshasa

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. Reinventing Order / Theodore Trefon -- Kinshasa Bargain / Anastase Nzeza Bilakila -- Tap Is On Strike : Water Distribution And Supply Strategies / Angéline Maractho Mudzo Mwacan And Theodore Trefon -- Food Security In Kinshasa : Coping With Adversity / Eric Tollens -- Miracle Of Life In Kinshasa : New Approaches To Public Health / Peter Persyn And Fabienne Ladrière -- Diploma Paradox : University Of Kinshasa Between Crisis And Salvation / Télésphore Tsakala Munikengi And Willy Bono-pasi Moke Sangol -- Acting On Behalf (and In Spite) Of The State : Ngo's And Civil Society Associations In Kinshasa / Marco Giovannoni [and Others] -- Hidden Families, Single Mothers And Cibalabala : Economic Regress And Changing Household Composition In Kinshasa / Tom De Herdt -- When Kinois Take To The Streets / Gauthier De Villers And Jean Omasombo Tshonda -- On Being Shege In Kinshasa : Children, The Occult And The Street / Filip De Boeck -- Elusive Lupemba : Rumours About Fame And (mis)fortune In Kinshasa / Bob W. White. Edited By Theodore Trefon. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [192]-204) And Index. Text In English; Chapter Abstracts In French. Kinshasa is the second largest city in sub-Saharan Africa, with 7 million inhabitants. This volume looks at ways the Kinois have adapted to a harsh urban environment in which there are few jobs, governed by a malfunctioning political system