The people of the Congo have suffered from a particularly brutal colonial rule, American interference after independence, decades of robbery at the hands of the dictator Mobutu and periodic warfare which continues even now in the East of the country. But, as this insightful political history makes clear, the Congolese people have not taken these multiple oppressions lying down and have fought over many years to establish democratic institutions at home and free themselves from foreign exploitation; indeed these are two aspects of a single project.
Professor Nzongola-Ntalaja is one of his country's leading intellectuals and his panoramic understanding of the personalities and events, as well as class, ethnic and other factors, make his book a lucid, radical and utterly unromanticized account of his countrymen's struggle. His people's defeat and the state's post-colonial crisis are seen as resulting from a post-independence collapse of the anti-colonial alliance between the masses and the national leadership .
This book is essential reading for understanding what is happening in the Congo and the Great Lakes region under the rule of the late President Kabila, and now his son. It will also stand as a milestone in how to write the modern political history of Africa.
Nzongola-Ntalaja, Georges: - "
Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja is a renowned scholar of African politics and an international consultant specializing in public policy, governance and conflict-related issues. His distinguished scholarly career has included tenure as the James K. Batten Professor of Public Policy at Davidson College in North Carolina (1998-99); Professor of African Studies at Howard University (Washington DC) from 1978 to 1997; lectureships in the Congo (1970-75) and Nigeria (1977-78); and a visiting professorship at El Colegio de Mexico (summer 1987). He has also served as President of the African Studies Association (ASA) of the United States, 1987-88; Member of the Executive Committee of the International Political Science Association (IPSA), 1994-97; and President of the African Association of Political Science (AAPS) from 1995 to 1997.
In the political sphere, he has played a role in his own country's difficult transition from the Mobutu dictatorship - in 1992 he was a delegate to the Sovereign National Conference of Congo/Zaire; serving thereafter as Diplomatic Adviser to the Transitional Government of Prime Minister Etienne Tshisekedi; and in 1996 as Deputy President of the National Electoral Commission of the DRC and chief representative of the democratic opposition on the Commission.
His publications include:
The State and Democracy in Africa, co-editor, (AAPS Books, Harare, 1997; Trenton: Africa World Press, 1998)
The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World, section editor, (Oxford University Press, NY, 1993)
Conflict in the Horn of Africa, editor, (African Studies Association Press, Atlanta, 1991)
Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Africa, (Zed Books, London, 1987)
The Crisis in Zaire: Myths and Realities, editor, (Africa World Press, Trenton, 1986)."
