AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER - UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
 

Conference: Colonial Violence in Congo colloquium, 05/05


International Colloquium
Colonial Violence in Congo
12-13 MAY 2005
Belgian Association of Africanists
Royal Museum for Central Africa
http://www.africamuseum.be/agenda/Geheugen_colloq12mei





The year 2005 marks the 120th anniversary of the close of the Berlin Conference, an initiative of Chancellor Bismarck that led, among other things, to the creation of the Congo Free State, of which Leopold II would be the sovereign. It also marks the 45th anniversary of accession to independence by the Democratic Republic of Congo. The history of this vast central African territory and its population has been scarred by 75 years of colonial exploitation. The Royal Museum for Central Africa chose 2005 as the year in which to open a large historical exhibition that will put several aspects of this colonial history into perspective: economic interests, contacts between cultures, the civilising mission of Belgium, the development of scientific knowledge, modes of representation, diffusion of Christianity, and so on. The Royal Museum for Central Africa is a reputed centre for knowledge and research on central Africa, while the Belgian Association of Africanists is a professional association whose members include researchers working in Belgium and specialists on Africa, mostly in the field of human sciences. The Museum and the Association have decided to join forces to set up an international colloquium that will address the important topic, often neglected by historiography, of "colonial violence".

When one mentions "colonial violence", one obviously refers to complex and varied phenomena that we can hardly address without a certain apprehension and emotion. It is nevertheless an exercise that we must accomplish in the most serene manner, encouraging a debate between qualified researchers. As witnessed in some recent more or less happy initiatives in the Belgian and foreign media, it is a debate long-awaited by a national and international public. Without pretending to offer the public a program that would establish with authority the extent and intensity of "colonial violence," or an exhaustive description of all its forms, we wish to bring together experts from diverse horizons to appraise the contemporary knowledge and ongoing research in this field. A quick glance at the existing literature and ongoing research reveals that colonial violence took many forms. It developed at the levels of politics and economics but could be physical, moral or symbolic: from usurpation of power to spoliation of goods and resources, from forced labour to industrial exploitation, from racism and rejection of indigenous values to abusive visual and literary representations.

Specialists work on three major periods: that of the Congo Free State, from 1885 to 1908, that of the Belgian colony that followed and that which led to independence in June 1960. Some work on the continuities that have existed, or exist, between certain forms of colonial and pre-colonial violence as well as on some significant continuums in the violent exploitation of women and men to obtain natural resources in colonial and post-colonial periods. If studies on the economic exploitation and political and military domination have been more frequent, followed by studies of indigenous religious movements and their possible repression, one observes today a diversification of the research themes. These address the question of violence in such varied domains as sanitary programs and scientific research, children colonies or domestic labour. There is also a vast field of study in the relations between violence and its forms of representation, be it in popular Congolese history, Congolese painting, the colonial novel or published accounts of exploration and adventure.

Programme*
The program can be found on our museum website : http://www.africamuseum.be/agenda/Geheugen_colloq12mei


as well as the registration form :

http://www.africamuseum.be/agenda/museum/xnews/RegistrationIntCol.pdf

This programme is indicative and may be modified by the conveners without prior notice in function of unforeseen events.



Page Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D.

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