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Claiming workers' rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo: the case of the Collectif des ex-agents de la Gécamines

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  • Benjamin Rubbers

Abstract

Within the context of its strategy for the reform of public companies in Africa, the World Bank became involved in redundancies of questionable legality. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, the Bank arranged and financed a voluntary severance programme in 2003, whereby 10,000 employees of the mining company Gécamines, some 45% of its workforce, left in return for an arbitrarily fixed lump-sum payment. Based on ethnographic research, this paper discusses the history of the protest movement which emerged from this mass redundancy programme, the arguments deployed by the movement and the resources available to it. On the basis of this case study, the paper goes on to offer some thoughts on the conditions for social criticism in a transitional regime, heir to an authoritarian tradition of long standing, and operating under the tutelage of foreign donors.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin Rubbers, 2010. "Claiming workers' rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo: the case of the Collectif des ex-agents de la Gécamines," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(125), pages 329-344, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:revape:v:37:y:2010:i:125:p:329-344
    DOI: 10.1080/03056244.2010.510629
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    Cited by:

    1. Engels, Bettina, 2016. "Mining conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa: Actors and repertoires of contention," GLOCON Working Paper Series 2, Freie Universität Berlin, Junior Research Group "Global Change – Local Conflicts?" (GLOCON).
    2. Benjamin Rubbers, 2020. "Mining Boom, Labour Market Segmentation and Social Inequality in the Congolese Copperbelt," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 51(6), pages 1555-1578, November.

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