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Gnawing Away at the City: Narratives of Domestic Precarity in a Congolese Mining Town

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2020

Kristien Geenen Open the ORCID record for Kristien Geenen [Opens in a new window]
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Abstract

The relationship between urbanization and mining is a precarious one; the latter often expands at the expense of the former. The incautious urban planning of a mining city in southeastern DR Congo, however, has opened up opportunities for residents with artisanal mining skills. Since the city is constructed on top of mineral deposits, the residents are able to dig ore in their own backyards to draw their subsistence. Based upon archival and ethnographic research, Geenen argues that, by self-generating the livelihoods they expected their resource-rich soil to bring forth, these artisanal diggers take advantage of the urbanized mineral deposits and write their own narrative of capitalism.

Résumé

Résumé

La relation entre l'urbanisation et l'exploitation minière est précaire ; la seconde se développant souvent au détriment de la première. L'urbanisme imprudent d'une ville minière dans le sud-est de la RD Congo a cependant ouvert des possibilités pour les résidents ayant des compétences en matière d'exploitation minière artisanale. Comme la ville est construite sur des gisements minéraux, les habitants peuvent creuser le minéral directement dans leur propre jardin pour en tirer leur subsistance. Sur la base de recherches archivistique et ethnographique, Geenen soutient qu'en produisant eux-mêmes leurs moyens de subsistance attendu de leur sol riche en ressources, ces creuseurs artisanaux profitent des gisements de minéraux urbanisés écrivant ainsi leur propre récit du capitalisme.

Resumo

Resumo

A relação entre a urbanização e a atividade mineira é de natureza precária: o desenvolvimento desta última faz-se muitas vezes à custa da primeira. Porém, o descuidado planeamento urbano de uma cidade mineira no sudeste da República Democrática do Congo abriu caminho a novas oportunidades para os moradores que detêm competências para a prática artesanal do garimpo. Porque a cidade foi construída diretamente sobre depósitos minerais, os moradores conseguem escavar a terra em busca de minérios nos seus próprios quintais, assim garantindo a subsistência. Partindo de um trabalho de investigação etnográfica e arquivística, Geenen sustenta que, ao gerarem os meios de subsistência que esperavam obter através da riqueza dos seus terrenos, estes garimpeiros artesanais tiram partido dos depósitos minerais urbanizados e escrevem a sua própria narrativa do capitalismo.

Keywords

DR Congomining citiesurban planningartisanal mining
Type
Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 64 , Issue 2 , June 2021 , pp. 412 - 433
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the African Studies Association

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