The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has experienced one of the most complex, meandering, and uncertain democratisation processes in Africa. In 2016 the third cycle of elections was not organised. The Presidential Majority (M.P) was accused of concocting an amendment of the constitution aimed at granting a third term to the incumbent President Joseph Kabila. Furthermore, the introduction of a Voting Machine by the electoral commission fuelled violent protests and a political impasse. The DRC tittered on the brink of collapse into another civil war in 2016. Yet, against all odds, the Congolese electoral commission organised peaceful elections in December 2018. Stunningly, the presidential election was won by the opposition. A peaceful transfer of power at the helm of the state occurred for the first time in the country after 58 years of independence. The DRC is now regarded as a model of political alternation in power in Central Africa. The essay stems from the observation that predominant theorisations of Congolese politics fail to grasp the fecundity of the Congolese democratisation. Most scholars and analysts tend to focus on the deficits and flaws inherent in Congolese politics. Hence, they are often oblivious to foundational strides accomplished in this process as it unfolded in the DRC. This essay undertakes a modelled exploration of the democratisation process that unfolded in the DRC from the era of President Joseph Mobutu (1990–1997) to the dispensation of President Joseph Kabila (2001–2018). The effort utilises a paradigmatic framework to unravel the intricacies of a phenomenon occurring in a country which, at first glance, is often assumed to escape any ideal type. To this effect, the essay utilises Dr. Samuel Huntington’s Model of the Third Wave of Democratisation. It elucidates the causes, patterns, problems, and prospects of furthering this process in the DRC. The book proposes a dialectical approach propounding the possibility of the consolidation of democratisation in the DRC.

Selected bibliography p.23.

This volume investigates the development of biographical study in African history and historiography. Consisting of 10 case studies, it is preceded by an introductory prologue, which deals with the relationship between historiography and different forms of biographical study in the context of Western history-writing but especially African (historical and anthropological) studies. The first three case studies deal with the methodological insights of biographical studies for African history. This is followed by three case studies dealing with personas living through fundamental societal transitions, and four case studies focusing on the discursive dimensions of biographical subjects (including religion, cosmology and ideology). Countries or regions discussed include South Africa, Zambia, Gold Coast, Cameroon, Tanganyika, Congo-Kinshasa and the Central African Republic in colonial times. Contributors are Lindie Koorts, Elena Moore, Iva Peša, Paul Glen Grant, Jacqueline de Vries, Duncan Money, Morgan Robinson, Eve Wong, Klaas van Walraven, Erik Kennes.

This volume offers a comprehensive history and analysis of the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the tumultuous period of 1997 - 2001. The author examines the most recent events in this turbulent region, offering a contemporary account that is both extensive and detailed.

The third edition of the Historical Dictionary of the Democratic Republic of the Congo looks back at the nearly 48 years of independence, over a century of colonial rule, and even earlier kingdoms and groups that shared the territory. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 800 cross-referenced dictionary entries on civil wars, mutinies, notable people, places, events, and cultural practices.

“Wholly unsentimental,” a foreign correspondent’s exploration of political corruption in Africa “gets it right . . . [a] chillingly amusing cautionary tale.” —Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World Known as “the Leopard,” the president of Zaire for thirty-two years, Mobutu Sese Seko, showed all the cunning of his namesake—seducing Western powers, buying up the opposition, and dominating his people with a devastating combination of brutality and charm. While the population was pauperized, he plundered the country's copper and diamond resources, downing pink champagne in his jungle palace like some modern-day reincarnation of Joseph Conrad's crazed station manager. Michela Wrong, a correspondent who witnessed Mobutu's last days, traces the rise and fall of the idealistic young journalist who became the stereotype of an African despot. Engrossing, highly readable, and as funny as it is tragic, In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz assesses the acts of the villains and the heroes in this fascinating story of the Democratic Republic of Congo. “A riveting inspection of the legacy of European colonialism in Africa” — Booklist “The beauty of this book is that it makes sense of chaos.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “In lively prose . . . Wrong combines travelogue with astute political analysis . . . terrific.” —Library Journal “Provocative, touching, and sensitively written . . . an eloquent, brilliantly researched account and a remarkably sympathetic study of a tragic land.” —Sunday Times

A "meticulously researched and comprehensive" (Financial Times​) history of the devastating war in the heart of Africa's Congo, with first-hand accounts of the continent's worst conflict in modern times. At the heart of Africa is the Congo, a country the size of Western Europe, bordering nine other nations, that since 1996 has been wracked by a brutal war in which millions have died. In Dancing in the Glory of Monsters, renowned political activist and researcher Jason K. Stearns has written a compelling and deeply-reported narrative of how Congo became a failed state that collapsed into a war of retaliatory massacres. Stearns brilliantly describes the key perpetrators, many of whom he met personally, and highlights the nature of the political system that brought these people to power, as well as the moral decisions with which the war confronted them. Now updated with a new introduction, Dancing in the Glory of Monsters tells the full story of Africa's Great War.