Koen Vlassenroot is Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Conflict Research Group at Ghent University. He is also the Director of the Africa Programme of the Egmont Institute. His research focuses on dynamics of conflict and issues of justice and security in Central Africa. He has written numerous book chapters and articles on militias, land access, rebel governance and state-building. Current research projects are on access to justice and security and on access to justice for displaced people in DR Congo. Address: Ghent University Universiteitstraat 8 B-9000 Ghent
This contribution analyses the role of taxation in the constitution of authority in the conflict-... more This contribution analyses the role of taxation in the constitution of authority in the conflict-ridden eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where a multitude of authorities alternately compete and collude over the right to extract resources. Taxation ranges from simple plunder, to protection rackets, to the material reciprocation of the recognition of rights. Focusing on the taxation practices of armed groups, the article argues that taxation is at the core of armed groups' production of public authority and citizenship, and that their modes of taxation are based on long-standing registers of authority and practices of rule that originate in the colonial era. In particular, the article shows that by appealing to both local customary and national forms of political community and citizenship, armed groups are able to assume public authority to tax civilians. However, their public authority may be undermined by their tendency to reproduce a historical pattern in which authorities forcefully impose a heavy tax burden, while providing limited public goods and services in return.
For more than 20 years, Kalehe and Walikale, two territories connecting the provinces of North an... more For more than 20 years, Kalehe and Walikale, two territories connecting the provinces of North and South Kivu, have been characterized by a proliferation of armed groups. The first of these groups emerged during the Masisi war in North Kivu, which pitched autochthonous1 and migrant communities against each other and affected ethnic cohabitation in Kalehe and Walikale. During the Congolese wars, these armed groups evolved into one of the leading Mai-Mai groups, which occupied vast parts of both territories and installed its own structures of dominance. The start of the peace process in 2003 did not put an end to the local process of militarization. While in Walikale part of the former Mai-Mai movement transformed into the Mai-Mai Kifuafua, the successful campaigns of the Raia Mutomboki against the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR, Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) in Shabunda eventually also spread to Kalehe and Walikale. Although the FDLR has been largely ousted from both territories, the Raia Mutomboki continues to be a key player in the local political and military landscape and has become deeply involved in different domains of public life, including the provision of protection, conflict resolution and taxation. This report analyses the involvement of these armed groups in public life in the territories of Kalehe and Walikale, which is the outcome of the intersection of a number of local historical processes with larger national and regional dynamics. The current political and military landscape in these territories, defined by the presence of armed groups and the consequent fragmentation of local authority, is mainly caused by unresolved tensions between and within communities over territory, authority and resources; the lack of capacity of the Congo’s state services to provide protection; and the limited success of reintegration efforts. The report explores how these armed groups are embedded inlocal communities, how they are connected to local power struggles and how they are involved in the exercise of local authority, including in the fields of security, dispute resolution and revenue generation. Armed groups are able to mobilize popular support by evoking two issues of existential importance to local communities—marginalization and security. While the former revolves around the historical marginalization of local communities in politics and governance, the latter frames local communities as in need of protection. These issues give meaning to armed groups’ bids for local authority and legitimize their engagement in a wide range of governmental practices normally ascribed to the state, such as taxation and the provision of justice and security. Armed groups have evolved into dominant power brokers, which are deeply involved with ruling territory, people and resources. They have become part and parcel of local and sometimes national power dynamics, have colluded with local and national political and customary leaders, and have developed different techniques and strategies to impose or sustain their authority. The end result is further militarization and fragmentation of public space and social interactions. In order to reverse this dynamic and promote a demilitarization of public life in Walikale and Kalehe, it is first essential to address the civilian support networks of armed groups. It is then equally important to deal with more structural causes of militarization, including the conduct of the security forces, and to promote more transparent and accountable state institutions. Two other issues that are interconnected and require specific attention are the return of refugee populations and disputes over landownership. These cannot be resolved without a genuine national land reform process, which requires the mobilization of the necessary political will and technical capacity.
The protracted crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that lasted from 1996 till 2003 agg... more The protracted crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that lasted from 1996 till 2003 aggravated processes of land alienation and reduced market access. Field research conducted in 2005 in three eastern DRC areas shows that these processes made rural households increasingly vulnerable and deepened structural causes of food insecurity. Households adapt their livelihood strategies because of the need to deal with the impact of different adversities and to anticipate various risks threatening their livelihoods. This further erodes the resilience of poorly endowed households and forces them to forsake food security in the long run to avoid acute destitution. Yet, standard food relief interventions often solely focus on direct food availability and fail to address the underlying structural causes for food insecurity such as limited access to land and markets. We recommend a combination of interventions that address both in order to lift rural households in protracted crisis situa...
Analysis of rural households' livelihoods in the Democratic Republic of Congo reveals that th... more Analysis of rural households' livelihoods in the Democratic Republic of Congo reveals that the protracted conflict and institutional changes created a highly fragile context constraining livelihood strategies and introducing additional uncertainties. Increased land tenure insecurity and altered 'rules of the game' of the market exacerbated structural causes for food insecurity and households' risk exposure. While adapting to this fragile environment, avoiding risks and dealing with adverse shocks forced poorly-endowed households to forsake food security in the long run to avoid destitution. Food security interventions tend to neglect these implications and implement standard relief interventions failing to lift households out of a food insecurity trap.
This paper examines the impact of the presence of international humanitarian organisations on loc... more This paper examines the impact of the presence of international humanitarian organisations on local urban transformation processes in the city of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Rather than evaluating the direct effects of humanitarian interventions and strategies, it focuses on the indirect but profound effects of the presence of this 'humanitarian sector'. It argues that the international humanitarian presence became a significant factor in the recent shaping and reshaping of the city's profile and has reinforced competition over the urban political and socioeconomic space. The paper evaluates the direct and indirect impact of the international humanitarian presence on the local urban economy and the larger political economy of war in eastern DRC. It analyses how this presence has reinforced processes of spatial reconfiguration, how it has influenced urban planning, and how it has affected dynamics of gentrification and marginalisa-tion on the urban spatial level.
This contribution analyses the role of taxation in the constitution of authority in the conflict-... more This contribution analyses the role of taxation in the constitution of authority in the conflict-ridden eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where a multitude of authorities alternately compete and collude over the right to extract resources. Taxation ranges from simple plunder, to protection rackets, to the material reciprocation of the recognition of rights. Focusing on the taxation practices of armed groups, the article argues that taxation is at the core of armed groups' production of public authority and citizenship, and that their modes of taxation are based on long-standing registers of authority and practices of rule that originate in the colonial era. In particular, the article shows that by appealing to both local customary and national forms of political community and citizenship, armed groups are able to assume public authority to tax civilians. However, their public authority may be undermined by their tendency to reproduce a historical pattern in which authorities forcefully impose a heavy tax burden, while providing limited public goods and services in return.
For more than 20 years, Kalehe and Walikale, two territories connecting the provinces of North an... more For more than 20 years, Kalehe and Walikale, two territories connecting the provinces of North and South Kivu, have been characterized by a proliferation of armed groups. The first of these groups emerged during the Masisi war in North Kivu, which pitched autochthonous1 and migrant communities against each other and affected ethnic cohabitation in Kalehe and Walikale. During the Congolese wars, these armed groups evolved into one of the leading Mai-Mai groups, which occupied vast parts of both territories and installed its own structures of dominance. The start of the peace process in 2003 did not put an end to the local process of militarization. While in Walikale part of the former Mai-Mai movement transformed into the Mai-Mai Kifuafua, the successful campaigns of the Raia Mutomboki against the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR, Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) in Shabunda eventually also spread to Kalehe and Walikale. Although the FDLR has been largely ousted from both territories, the Raia Mutomboki continues to be a key player in the local political and military landscape and has become deeply involved in different domains of public life, including the provision of protection, conflict resolution and taxation. This report analyses the involvement of these armed groups in public life in the territories of Kalehe and Walikale, which is the outcome of the intersection of a number of local historical processes with larger national and regional dynamics. The current political and military landscape in these territories, defined by the presence of armed groups and the consequent fragmentation of local authority, is mainly caused by unresolved tensions between and within communities over territory, authority and resources; the lack of capacity of the Congo’s state services to provide protection; and the limited success of reintegration efforts. The report explores how these armed groups are embedded inlocal communities, how they are connected to local power struggles and how they are involved in the exercise of local authority, including in the fields of security, dispute resolution and revenue generation. Armed groups are able to mobilize popular support by evoking two issues of existential importance to local communities—marginalization and security. While the former revolves around the historical marginalization of local communities in politics and governance, the latter frames local communities as in need of protection. These issues give meaning to armed groups’ bids for local authority and legitimize their engagement in a wide range of governmental practices normally ascribed to the state, such as taxation and the provision of justice and security. Armed groups have evolved into dominant power brokers, which are deeply involved with ruling territory, people and resources. They have become part and parcel of local and sometimes national power dynamics, have colluded with local and national political and customary leaders, and have developed different techniques and strategies to impose or sustain their authority. The end result is further militarization and fragmentation of public space and social interactions. In order to reverse this dynamic and promote a demilitarization of public life in Walikale and Kalehe, it is first essential to address the civilian support networks of armed groups. It is then equally important to deal with more structural causes of militarization, including the conduct of the security forces, and to promote more transparent and accountable state institutions. Two other issues that are interconnected and require specific attention are the return of refugee populations and disputes over landownership. These cannot be resolved without a genuine national land reform process, which requires the mobilization of the necessary political will and technical capacity.
The protracted crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that lasted from 1996 till 2003 agg... more The protracted crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that lasted from 1996 till 2003 aggravated processes of land alienation and reduced market access. Field research conducted in 2005 in three eastern DRC areas shows that these processes made rural households increasingly vulnerable and deepened structural causes of food insecurity. Households adapt their livelihood strategies because of the need to deal with the impact of different adversities and to anticipate various risks threatening their livelihoods. This further erodes the resilience of poorly endowed households and forces them to forsake food security in the long run to avoid acute destitution. Yet, standard food relief interventions often solely focus on direct food availability and fail to address the underlying structural causes for food insecurity such as limited access to land and markets. We recommend a combination of interventions that address both in order to lift rural households in protracted crisis situa...
Analysis of rural households' livelihoods in the Democratic Republic of Congo reveals that th... more Analysis of rural households' livelihoods in the Democratic Republic of Congo reveals that the protracted conflict and institutional changes created a highly fragile context constraining livelihood strategies and introducing additional uncertainties. Increased land tenure insecurity and altered 'rules of the game' of the market exacerbated structural causes for food insecurity and households' risk exposure. While adapting to this fragile environment, avoiding risks and dealing with adverse shocks forced poorly-endowed households to forsake food security in the long run to avoid destitution. Food security interventions tend to neglect these implications and implement standard relief interventions failing to lift households out of a food insecurity trap.
This paper examines the impact of the presence of international humanitarian organisations on loc... more This paper examines the impact of the presence of international humanitarian organisations on local urban transformation processes in the city of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Rather than evaluating the direct effects of humanitarian interventions and strategies, it focuses on the indirect but profound effects of the presence of this 'humanitarian sector'. It argues that the international humanitarian presence became a significant factor in the recent shaping and reshaping of the city's profile and has reinforced competition over the urban political and socioeconomic space. The paper evaluates the direct and indirect impact of the international humanitarian presence on the local urban economy and the larger political economy of war in eastern DRC. It analyses how this presence has reinforced processes of spatial reconfiguration, how it has influenced urban planning, and how it has affected dynamics of gentrification and marginalisa-tion on the urban spatial level.
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Papers by Koen Vlassenroot
This report analyses the involvement of these armed groups in public life in the territories of Kalehe and Walikale, which is the outcome of the intersection of a number of local historical processes with larger national and regional dynamics. The current political and military landscape in these territories, defined by the presence of armed groups and the consequent fragmentation of local authority, is mainly caused by unresolved tensions between and within communities over territory, authority and resources; the lack of capacity of the Congo’s state services to provide protection; and the limited success of reintegration efforts. The report explores how these armed groups are embedded inlocal communities, how they are connected to local power struggles and how they are involved in the exercise of local authority, including in the fields of security, dispute resolution and revenue generation. Armed groups are able to mobilize popular support by evoking two issues of existential importance to local communities—marginalization and security. While the former revolves around the historical marginalization of local communities in politics and governance, the latter frames local communities as in need of protection. These issues give meaning to armed groups’ bids for local authority and legitimize their engagement in a wide range of governmental practices normally ascribed to the state, such as taxation and the provision of justice and security.
Armed groups have evolved into dominant power brokers, which are deeply involved with ruling territory, people and resources. They have become part and parcel of local and sometimes national power dynamics, have colluded with local and national political and customary leaders, and have developed different techniques and strategies to impose or sustain their authority. The end result is further militarization and fragmentation of public space and social interactions.
In order to reverse this dynamic and promote a demilitarization of public life in Walikale and Kalehe, it is first essential to address the civilian support networks of armed groups. It is then equally important to deal with more structural causes of militarization, including the conduct of the security forces, and to promote more transparent and accountable state institutions. Two other issues that are interconnected and require specific attention are the return of refugee populations and disputes over landownership. These cannot be resolved without a genuine national land reform process, which requires the mobilization of the necessary political will and technical capacity.
This report analyses the involvement of these armed groups in public life in the territories of Kalehe and Walikale, which is the outcome of the intersection of a number of local historical processes with larger national and regional dynamics. The current political and military landscape in these territories, defined by the presence of armed groups and the consequent fragmentation of local authority, is mainly caused by unresolved tensions between and within communities over territory, authority and resources; the lack of capacity of the Congo’s state services to provide protection; and the limited success of reintegration efforts. The report explores how these armed groups are embedded inlocal communities, how they are connected to local power struggles and how they are involved in the exercise of local authority, including in the fields of security, dispute resolution and revenue generation. Armed groups are able to mobilize popular support by evoking two issues of existential importance to local communities—marginalization and security. While the former revolves around the historical marginalization of local communities in politics and governance, the latter frames local communities as in need of protection. These issues give meaning to armed groups’ bids for local authority and legitimize their engagement in a wide range of governmental practices normally ascribed to the state, such as taxation and the provision of justice and security.
Armed groups have evolved into dominant power brokers, which are deeply involved with ruling territory, people and resources. They have become part and parcel of local and sometimes national power dynamics, have colluded with local and national political and customary leaders, and have developed different techniques and strategies to impose or sustain their authority. The end result is further militarization and fragmentation of public space and social interactions.
In order to reverse this dynamic and promote a demilitarization of public life in Walikale and Kalehe, it is first essential to address the civilian support networks of armed groups. It is then equally important to deal with more structural causes of militarization, including the conduct of the security forces, and to promote more transparent and accountable state institutions. Two other issues that are interconnected and require specific attention are the return of refugee populations and disputes over landownership. These cannot be resolved without a genuine national land reform process, which requires the mobilization of the necessary political will and technical capacity.