IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/eurjdr/v31y2019i1d10.1057_s41287-018-0181-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

War, Displacement and Rural–Urban Transformation: Kivu’s Boomtowns, Eastern D.R. Congo

Author

Listed:
  • Karen Büscher

    (Ghent University)

  • Gillian Mathys

    (Ghent University)

Abstract

This article addresses rural–urban transformations in the war-torn Kivu provinces. The spectacular growth and development processes of fast-expanding boomtowns in Kivu’s rural areas serve as an entry point to investigate the relationship between conflict, displacement, urbanisation and development in Eastern D.R. Congo. Based on qualitative research on urban expansion in different smaller towns in North and South Kivu, this article analyses the characteristics of these ‘new’ urban spaces. It demonstrates that boomtowns represent centres of opportunities as well as contestation, and that they play an important role in the economic dynamics of development as well as in the political dynamics of stability and conflict.

Suggested Citation

  • Karen Büscher & Gillian Mathys, 2019. "War, Displacement and Rural–Urban Transformation: Kivu’s Boomtowns, Eastern D.R. Congo," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(1), pages 53-71, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:31:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1057_s41287-018-0181-0
    DOI: 10.1057/s41287-018-0181-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41287-018-0181-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41287-018-0181-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kristien Geenen, 2012. "How the People of Butembo (RDC) were Chosen to Embody ‘the New Congo’: Or What the Appearance of a Poster in a City's Public Places can Teach about its Social Tissue," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 448-461, May.
    2. Koen Vlassenroot, 2002. "Citizenship, identity formation & conflict in South Kivu: the case of the Banyamulenge," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(93-94), pages 499-516, September.
    3. Sara Geenen, 2011. "Local Livelihoods, Global Interests and the State in the Congolese Mining Sector," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: An Ansoms & Stefaan Marysse (ed.), Natural Resources and Local Livelihoods in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, chapter 8, pages 149-169, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Adam Branch, 2013. "Gulu in War … and Peace? The Town as Camp in Northern Uganda," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(15), pages 3152-3167, November.
    5. Koen Vlassenroot & Karen Büscher, 2013. "Borderlands, Identity and Urban Development: The Case of Goma (Democratic Republic of the Congo)," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(15), pages 3168-3184, November.
    6. Werthmann, Katja, 2009. "Working in a boom-town: Female perspectives on gold-mining in Burkina Faso," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-2), pages 18-23.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pokorny, Benno & von Lübke, Christian & Dayamba, Sidzabda Djibril & Dickow, Helga, 2019. "All the gold for nothing? Impacts of mining on rural livelihoods in Northern Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 23-39.
    2. Anja Tolonen, 2019. "Endogenous Gender Roles: Evidence from Africa’s Gold Mining Industry," OxCarre Working Papers 209, Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies, University of Oxford.
    3. Sauerwein, Titus, 2020. "Gold mining and development in Côte d’Ivoire: Trajectories, opportunities and oversights," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    4. Obodai, Jacob & Bhagwat, Shonil & Mohan, Giles, 2024. "The interface of environment and human wellbeing: Exploring the impacts of gold mining on food security in Ghana," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    5. Bodenheimer, Miriam, 2014. "Certifying improvement, improving certification: An analysis based on the artisanal and small-scale mining sector," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S9/2014, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    6. Hilson, Gavin & Van Bockstael, Steven & Sauerwein, Titus & Hilson, Abigail & McQuilken, James, 2021. "Artisanal and small-scale mining, and COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa: A preliminary analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    7. Geenen, Sara, 2014. "Dispossession, displacement and resistance: Artisanal miners in a gold concession in South-Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 90-99.
    8. Nik Stoop & Janvier Kilosho Buraye & Marijke Verpoorten, 2016. "Relocation, reorientation, or confrontation? Insights from a representative survey among artisanal miners in Kamituga, South-Kivu," Working Papers of LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance 573254, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance.
    9. Arthur-Holmes, Francis & Abrefa Busia, Kwaku, 2020. "Household dynamics and the bargaining power of women in artisanal and small-scale mining in sub-Saharan Africa: A Ghanaian case study," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    10. Cristina Udelsmann Rodrigues & Patience Mususa & Karen Büscher & Jeroen Cuvelier, 2021. "Boomtown Urbanization and Rural-Urban Transformation in Mining and Conflict Regions in Angola, the DRC and Zambia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-15, February.
    11. Raúl Sánchez de la Sierra, 2021. "Whither Formal Contracts?," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(5), pages 2341-2373, September.
    12. Hilson, Gavin & Ackah-Baidoo, Abigail, 2011. "Can Microcredit Services Alleviate Hardship in African Small-scale Mining Communities?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1191-1203, July.
    13. Gerhard Anders & Olaf Zenker & Adam Branch, 2014. "The Violence of Peace: Ethnojustice in Northern Uganda," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 45(3), pages 608-630, May.
    14. Zabsonré, Agnès & Agbo, Maxime & Somé, Juste, 2018. "Gold exploitation and socioeconomic outcomes: The case of Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 206-221.
    15. Maclin, Beth J. & Kelly, Jocelyn T.D. & Perks, Rachel & Vinck, Patrick & Pham, Phuong, 2017. "Moving to the mines: Motivations of men and women for migration to artisanal and small-scale mining sites in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 115-122.
    16. Kelly, Jocelyn T.D., 2014. "“This mine has become our farmland": Critical perspectives on the coevolution of artisanal mining and conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 100-108.
    17. Lala Safiatou Ouedraogo & Patrick Mundler, 2019. "Local Governance and Labor Organizations on Artisanal Gold Mining Sites in Burkina Faso," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-21, January.
    18. Jessie K. Luna, 2020. "‘Pesticides are our children now’: cultural change and the technological treadmill in the Burkina Faso cotton sector," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(2), pages 449-462, June.
    19. Bashwira, Marie-Rose & Cuvelier, Jeroen & Hilhorst, Dorothea & van der Haar, Gemma, 2014. "Not only a man's world: Women's involvement in artisanal mining in eastern DRC," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 109-116.
    20. Diana Vela-Almeida & Asbjørn Karlsen, 2023. "Reinforcing path marginalization: revealing the unaccounted labour organization at a mining frontier in Indonesia," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 16(3), pages 481-494.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:31:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1057_s41287-018-0181-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.