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This text reflects on the specific trajectory of two medical buildings in Kinshasa, which once epitomized the progressive ambitions of tropical modernism. From blueprints to ruins (and back), the uncanny history of the Institut d’Enseignement Médical (IEM) and of the Hopital du Cinquantenaire (formerly Hopital Cardiologique), both located in Kasa-Vubu, Kinshasa, captures what Achille Mbembe describes as the “interlocking of ages” that define the experience and materiality of time in Africa. The two buildings were conceived as showcases of development, then turned into ruins in the 1990’s, before being reborn in the 2010’s as emblems of Congolese renaissance, and immediately criticized as symptoms of the illusory nature of Joseph Kabila’s presidential promises. Their trajectory points simultaneously to various, at times opposed, political and aesthetical directions, towards the uncertain future of the post-millennial building boom, and back to the modernist age of planification and “social colonialism”.

A dynamic field of research Public policy in Africa and, even more globally, public action both present a dynamic field of research. Over the past few years three edited books or journal special issues have specifically addressed this topic and their introductory texts will serve to present their project. This issue of Anthropologie & Developpement is thus a further contribution to a recent and rich academic production encompassing several other edited books (Ridde and Jacob, 2013; Bierschenk...

In this globalized world, more and more people are moving for different reasons and immigrating to other countries. The overall aim of this study is to analyze five migrants` views on migration in this globalized world. The migrants in this study have for various reasons moved to Sweden. Four of these migrants are members of the Congolese association Kongo Moko. I want to compare the migrants´ views on globalization. To also understand how migrants from two different continents perceive globalization and migration. How do migrants view globalization as a phenomenon? What do they see as the advantages and disadvantages of globalization? How do they describe their own place of belonging in Sweden and in the world? What connection do they have to the "homeland"? The material of this study consists of qualitative interviews and observations. The results of this study show that the migrants have some issues with identifying them selft in the new country they moved to.

International audience; Cette recherche a pour but d'analyser et de comprendre les raisons de l'échec du parc agro-industriel de Bukanga-Lonzo qui a été utilisé de 2014 à 2018 comme projet-pilote d'une série de vingt (20) PAI qui devaient être implantés en RDC avec l'appui de la Banque mondiale et de la Banque africaine de développement.

This is an ethnographic study of alternative spirituality in the densely populated city of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The perspective is oriented from the vantage point of the followers of a Japanese ‘spiritual movement’ (Sekai Kyûseikyô, Church of World Messianity, Église Messianique Mondiale/EMM), which has been introduced to Congo, as well as locally governed and frequented there exclusively by Africans. The thesis addresses the role and innovative ethical potential of this divergent religious minority in the diversifying religious field of the contemporary Africa city. By applying an aesthetic approach, the thesis offers insights into the role of religious things, spiritual technologies and aesthetic repertoires in the generation and politics of difference. This results in boundaries and tensions, which revolve around popular suspicions of ‘magic’, ‘occult sciences’ and witchcraft. A main argument of the thesis is that, in conjunction with religious things and artefacts, the human body and the senses are important architectures of difference, which is both an obstacle and an asset in the production of authority. Thus, the study explores religion in Africa, i.e. the quest for health, prosperity and overall fortune, of a minority of Kinois (Kinshasa’s inhabitants) from a point of view that is decisively neither Catholic nor Pentecostal. After the introduction, eight chapters present and analyse the ways in which cultural materials ‘from Japan’ are locally re-produced and validated. Chapter 1 offers a preliminary discussion of the Japanese origins and global trajectories of the EMM movement, as well as its implantation and schismatic multiplication in Kinshasa. Thus also the Temple Messianique Art de Johrei (TMAJ) is presented. The remaining chapters revolve around the various 'divisive matters' practised by EMM and TMAJ. Chapter 2 introduces the ethnographic field by discussing the degree of suspicion levelled against non-Christian spiritual movements, mostly by Born-Again Christians. Given that this condemnation follows the logic of witchcraft accusations in terms of occultism and magic, the chapter addresses the question of religious non-conformism primarily through the sociological implications of suspicion and witchcraft. In the context of the city suspicion must be understood as an infrapolitical resource, which explains why the ‘iconic boundaries’ between Christian and non-Christian movements so ardently persist. Chapters 3 to 8 subsequently single out the most important of EMM’s and TMAJ’s practices so as to contextualise them one by one in the religious history of West Central Africa and the pluralistic religious environment of contemporary Kinshasa. Each of the chapters constitutes an ethnographic essay on the basis of the same methodological framework. Chapter 3 discusses the re-/production of Ikebana flower arrangement as perhaps the most important divisive matter, or, iconic boundary. Chapters 4 and 5 address the healing energy of Johrei in the context of religious and medical pluralism, which is followed by the matter of ‘vibrating’ Japanese mantras and the power of vocal sound (Chapter 6). The ‘imported tradition’ of ‘ancestor worship’ is discussed in Chapter 7. Lastly, the matters of soil, sentiment and EMM’s ethical renewal are approached through the ritual practices of urban cleaning campaigns and organic farming (Chapter 8). Authority and difference recur as leitmotifs throughout all chapters. Persistently faithful to the aesthetic approach, all chapters reveal continuities and disjunctions between ‘spiritual movements’ and Christian ones from the actors’ point of view.

This is an ethnographic study of alternative spirituality in the densely populated city of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The perspective is oriented from the vantage point of the followers of a Japanese ‘spiritual movement’ (Sekai Kyûseikyô, Church of World Messianity, Église Messianique Mondiale/EMM), which has been introduced to Congo, as well as locally governed and frequented there exclusively by Africans. The thesis addresses the role and innovative ethical potential of this divergent religious minority in the diversifying religious field of the contemporary Africa city. By applying an aesthetic approach, the thesis offers insights into the role of religious things, spiritual technologies and aesthetic repertoires in the generation and politics of difference. This results in boundaries and tensions, which revolve around popular suspicions of ‘magic’, ‘occult sciences’ and witchcraft. A main argument of the thesis is that, in conjunction with religious things and artefacts, the human body and the senses are important architectures of difference, which is both an obstacle and an asset in the production of authority. Thus, the study explores religion in Africa, i.e. the quest for health, prosperity and overall fortune, of a minority of Kinois (Kinshasa’s inhabitants) from a point of view that is decisively neither Catholic nor Pentecostal. After the introduction, eight chapters present and analyse the ways in which cultural materials ‘from Japan’ are locally re-produced and validated. Chapter 1 offers a preliminary discussion of the Japanese origins and global trajectories of the EMM movement, as well as its implantation and schismatic multiplication in Kinshasa. Thus also the Temple Messianique Art de Johrei (TMAJ) is presented. The remaining chapters revolve around the various 'divisive matters' practised by EMM and TMAJ. Chapter 2 introduces the ethnographic field by discussing the degree of suspicion levelled against non-Christian spiritual movements, mostly by Born-Again Christians. Given that this condemnation follows the logic of witchcraft accusations in terms of occultism and magic, the chapter addresses the question of religious non-conformism primarily through the sociological implications of suspicion and witchcraft. In the context of the city suspicion must be understood as an infrapolitical resource, which explains why the ‘iconic boundaries’ between Christian and non-Christian movements so ardently persist. Chapters 3 to 8 subsequently single out the most important of EMM’s and TMAJ’s practices so as to contextualise them one by one in the religious history of West Central Africa and the pluralistic religious environment of contemporary Kinshasa. Each of the chapters constitutes an ethnographic essay on the basis of the same methodological framework. Chapter 3 discusses the re-/production of Ikebana flower arrangement as perhaps the most important divisive matter, or, iconic boundary. Chapters 4 and 5 address the healing energy of Johrei in the context of religious and medical pluralism, which is followed by the matter of ‘vibrating’ Japanese mantras and the power of vocal sound (Chapter 6). The ‘imported tradition’ of ‘ancestor worship’ is discussed in Chapter 7. Lastly, the matters of soil, sentiment and EMM’s ethical renewal are approached through the ritual practices of urban cleaning campaigns and organic farming (Chapter 8). Authority and difference recur as leitmotifs throughout all chapters. Persistently faithful to the aesthetic approach, all chapters reveal continuities and disjunctions between ‘spiritual movements’ and Christian ones from the actors’ point of view.

Pour réaliser un dictionnaire spécialisé dans une langue bien documentée, le lexicographe dépouille les documents disponibles, il en extrait des termes candidats et, éventuellement, leurs définitions et des exemples pertinents. Cette approche n'est pas adaptée pour des langues dont les documents correspondant à la spécialité sont rares ou absents. Tel est le cas du lingála, langue parlée dans la ville de Kinshasa, dans le domaine de la chimie. Outre le travail de dépouillement du corpus, des travaux de création terminologique doivent donc être réalisés, afin de permettre à ces dictionnaires de satisfaire les attentes des utilisateurs. Pour cela, le lexicographe adopte l'une des deux méthodologies suivantes. La première méthodologie, fréquemment utilisée, procède par la traduction. Elle consiste à utiliser un corpus dans une langue source, en extraire des lemmes, des définitions et des exemples et, enfin, classifier ces données, toujours dans la langue source. Le document ainsi obtenu est ensuite traduit dans la langue cible. La deuxième méthodologie consiste à définir des concepts et à produire les termes les désignant directement dans la langue source, sans pour autant toujours disposer d'un corpus correspondant dans cette langue. Cette approche nécessite donc que le lexicographe soit lui-même expert dans le domaine en question ou qu'il travaille avec un expert, qui va faire ce travail de production du savoir dans la langue cible. Ensuite, le lexicographe soumet ses résultats à la validation de locuteurs experts. Dans ce travail, nous avons adopté et nous décrivons cette deuxième approche. En effet, cet article décrit la démarche que nous avons suivie pour la réalisation d'un dictionnaire de chimie bilingue lingála–français à l'intention des enseignants et des élèves de la troisième année secondaire des écoles de Kinshasa.Mots-clés: terminologie, lexicographie des termes de spécialité, lingála, congo, kinshasa, dictionnaire pédagogique, dictionnaire didactique, dictionnaire bilingue

Background: Street children, common in Africa, are increasingly vulnerable to alcohol and drugs of abuse and lack access to both healthcare and knowledge about HIV and AIDS. Hence, this study assessed the level of knowledge about sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, among street adolescents in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Methods: A random sampling of 200 street children (10-25 years of age) were selected from 17 rehabilitation centres in Kinshasa, and a structured questionnaire was administered to all participants in their respective centres. High knowledge, knowledge or awareness of condom was defined when a participant gave more than 67% of correct responses. Chi square analysis was used to test differences between sexes. Results: The knowledge level of respondents was high. 54.3% of males and 45.7% of girls have heard about HIV), and few participants cited unprotected sex as mode of transmission (42.9% for males and 57.1% for females). A high number of children reported a previous sexual experience. Satisfying a natural bodily need was the main reason for having sex. However, the use of condoms is still low in both genders (26.2 versus 59.3%, p

Dans l'Histoire du Congo, l'école a connu son essor avec l'usage du français. La grande partie de la littérature congolaise est écrite dans cette langue. Quel est le parcours suivi, pendant ce temps, par le lingála? Est-ce que l'environnement socioculturel dans lequel évolue le lingála, amène-t-il les auteurs à l'utiliser de façon efficiente? Langue qualifiée, par beaucoup, de barbare, est-elle en train de prendre ses lettres de noblesse à travers sa littérature? Cette littérature est-elle connue de son public? Se basant sur notre expérience, nos lectures et nos enquêtes de terrain, nous essayerons de caractériser cette littérature. Nous décrivons d'abord le cadre sociolinguistique dans lequel la littérature en lingála évolue, avant de décrire les formes linguistiques utilisées par les auteurs (registre et graphie). Par la suite, nous aborderons la relation entre la littérature en lingála et son lectorat, avant de terminer sur la question de l'édition et de la diffusion.

Lingála is one of the national languages of Congo and it is spoken in the city of Kinshasa and Brazzaville. Kinshasa students speak Lingála in their daily life, but at school French is the language of instruction, even if the law provides for the use of both Congolese languages and French as languages of instruction. However, due to the poor command of French by students, in fact over 80 % of teachers in formal schools also use Lingála to explain lessons. Our work has already shown (Sene Mongaba 2011 b) that this is a case of diglossia where French is used as language of writing and Lingála as language of oral activities (explaining the lesson). On the other hand, in non formal schools, teachers generally use Lingála as the sole language of instruction. In our study we characterize the variety and the register of Lingála, which is in contact with French, used by teachers in both formal and non formal education. To extract data in our corpus, we used the software Unitex. We argue that the oral language production of teachers constitutes the initial point of departure in the preparation of lessons in Lingála. In this respect, it would then be possible and beneficial to create or reinforce scientific terminology and produce writing documents (schoolbooks and scientific articles) in this language.

ispartof: MO* (Mondiaal Magazine) vol:2010 issue:23 pages:7-10 status: published