Le conflit rwando-congolais et le poids de l’identité : Une lecture inspirée de Jonathan Mercer

Abstract

The conflict between the DRC and Rwanda has been going on for three decades and is the subject of an extensive literature (Collier, 2000; Hugon, 2009). The most widely shared analysis on it generally suggests the economic factor as a possible explanation for these endless tensions (Jacquemot, 2009). The violence in eastern Congo is often viewed through the prism of the illicit exploitation of natural resources in this region and the greed of neighbouring countries, particularly Rwanda (Vircoulon, 2011). While the inter-community tensions between the Rwandan-speaking populations and the indigenous groups of the Kivus have also aroused great interest (Stearns et al, 2013), researchers seem, however, reluctant to take this identity logic to the level of the two states. The present research shows that the specific history of Rwanda and the DRC, the social mix in the Kivu and the territorial issues, as well as the political discourse that accompanies them, constitute relevant objects for a more in-depth examination of the question of identity at the interstate level. In the light of the theory of identity proposed by Jonathan Mercer (1995), this study considers the Rwandan-Congolese conflict in terms of identity confrontations. It sees it as a clash of belongings, conducive to violence.