Understanding urban protest in a context of war: an ethnographic analysis of ‘urban political terrains’ in Eastern DRC (CAB 2020 - Büscher)

This research project looks at the nexus of violence, conflict, and urban protest in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The spectacular phenomenon of urban protest forms the starting point of the study. It analyses this phenomenon from a spatial, historical, and politico-social perspective. The goal of the research is to understand urban protesters actors’ experiences and discourses on the interrelating dynamics of violence and armed conflict through a case study. In light of the blurred dichotomy between power and resistance, this project tries to grasp how urban protest is understood and performed by a wide array of actors in urban eastern DRC. It does so by engaging with youth at the geographical and social margins of the city. Drawing upon long-term ethnographic stays in the field, the aim is to offer a subjectivist understanding of how urban protest is enacted in the conflict-ridden cities of Goma and Bukavu.