Geographies of violence and geographies of hope in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Investigating the secessionist deficit of the Congo War

Following the outbreak of war in 1998, many expected the Congolese state to disintegrate into a constellation of micro-states. Based on a rich history of secession, ethnic particularism, and natural resource wealth, renewed attempts at the dismemberment of the state seemed inevitable. Yet the Congolese defied expectations of secession, irredentism, and/or annexation. This paper explores the elite- and local-level dynamics that might help explain the paradoxical secessionist deficit of the Congo War. Using a conceptual framework that emphasizes notions of secession rather than notions of statehood or sovereignty, I argue that communities in the Congo did in fact secede. Creating structures of social governance, many communities affirmed empirical secession without activating its juridical counterpart. By way of examining the economics of non-secession I argue that the prevalence of the informal economy negated the need for secessionist institutions. Simultaneously, some communities actively sought recognition and regulation from the central, Congolese state.