Parasitic Policy: Perspectives of the Congo

Presenter

Vincent Michael Baldassarri

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Maxine Oland, Commonwealth Honors College, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 3, 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A18, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 1 (A1-A20) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

The Congo is one of the most ethnically diverse and resource-rich nations in the world, yet continues to remain the second poorest country in the world riddled with conflict and socio-economic challenges. How does it remain this way, even after its independence from Belgian colonial rule? Foreign policy is a critical influence on the formation of Congo regimes and institutions as well as the social-political tensions that occur from colonial and independence-era policy decisions. Policy decisions on key aspects of Congolese life and society determine the wellbeing of the nation, including public spending and labor policy. Congolese society has been divided, both naturally and covertly orchestrated; along tribalized versus detribalized people, ethnic-national lines, and religious boundaries. I will investigate how international financial institutions, Western powers, and private business have used such division to promote cheap labor for exponential economic growth. The presentation and project will use concepts such as an expanded view of statism, covert action, resistance, and hybridization to justify my idea that there has been a coordinated effort by the previously mentioned neoliberal aligned groups to keep the Democratic Republic of Congo from achieving its true political and economic potential. The exhibit accompanying my research will highlight various perspectives from the era of colonialism, to the independence era, throughout the multiple regimes that have kept the Democratic Republic of Congo in political, economic, and societal stasis.

Keywords

Congo, decolonization, foreign policy, colonization, African politics

Research Area

Globalization and Development

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