Since well before Henry Morgan Stanley's fabled encounter with David Livingstone on the shore on Lake Tanganyika in the late 19th century and his subsequent collaboration with King Leopold of Belgium in looting the country of its mineral wealth, the Congo's history has been one of collaboration by a minority with, and struggle by the majority against, Western intervention. Before the colonial period, there were military struggles against annexation. During Belgian rule, charismatic religious figures emerged, promising an end to white domination; copper miners struck for higher wages; and rural workers struggled for survival. During the second half of the 20th century, the Congo's efforts at disentanglement from Belgian rule, the murder of the nationalist leader Patrice Lumumba and the long dictatorship of General Mobutu culminated in one of the bloodiest wars the world has ever seen. At the start of a new millennium, this book argues that the West has plundered Africa to its own advantage and that unrestrained global capitalism threatens to remake the entire world, bringing violence and destruction in the name of profit. In this radical history, the authors show not only how the Congo represents and symbolises the continent's long history of subordination, but also how the determined struggle of its people has continued, against the odds, to provide the Congo and the rest of Africa with real hope for the future.
As this book shows, the People of the Congo have suffered throughout the past century from a particularly brutal experience of colonial rule, and a series of post-independence political conflicts.
Introduces the readers to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country valiantly struggling to recover from historical abuse and ongoing war, a geographic paradise in the midst of political turmoil kept alive by the presence of the ...
“Oh, that's essential,” Weldon said. “There's no question that the faculty will want to discuss unethical conduct—on the part of the media, and issue a strong statement in your support. I'm drawing up a statement now, to come from my ...
Now updated with a new introduction, Dancing in the Glory of Monsters tells the full story of Africa's Great War.
Notes misperceptions surrounding the Congo and profiles the region's natural beauty, historical events, victimization as a political pawn, and the prospects facing a young new leader, the son of assassinated dictator Laurent Kabila.
Presents an overview of the African nation also called Congo-Kinshasa that includes information on its geography, history, government, lifestyles, language, customs, and current issues.
This book tells about the real drama that people of both Congo have gone through.
With details about the exploration (and exploitation) by the European colonialists and the aftermath of their arrival in the Congo, this book will give readers a better understanding of the second largest rainforest in the world.
The Trouble with the Congo suggests a new explanation for international peacebuilding failures in civil wars.
Describes the "conflict minerals" mined in the Congo amidst armed conflict and human rights abuses including gold, diamonds, coltan, tin, and tungsten used in cell phones, computers, and other electronics.