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Débrouillardise: certifying ‘conflict-free’ minerals in a context of regulatory pluralism in South Kivu, DR Congo*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2015

Marie Müller-Koné
Marie Müller-Koné*
Affiliation:
Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC), Pfarrer-Byns-Str.1, 53121 Bonn, Germany
*
Email: mueller@bicc.de
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Abstract

This article explores the relationship between transnational governance initiatives for ‘conflict-free’ certification in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the regulatory pluralism one finds on the ground. Efforts in certifying artisanal gold mining are scrutinised by analysing how three different gold mining sites in the DRC's South Kivu province are governed. Most artisanal mining in the DRC is usually referred to as ‘informal’ – a term associated with non-state actors. Instead, the article introduces the idea of a mode of governing that follows the principle of ‘débrouillardise’, which combines different rule systems and state and non-state regulators. It argues that ‘conflict-free’ governance will need to improvise via ad hoc agreements on the legal status of mining sites among state authorities, economic actors and international monitors. The act of declaring mining sites legal will provide for the semblance of a ‘conflict-free’ status and a unitary state system of rule, while in practice, the plurality of regulatory authority will not be reversed.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 53 , Issue 2 , June 2015 , pp. 145 - 168
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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Footnotes

*

This article is based on research undertaken in South Kivu in the framework of a research project on the possibilities of certifying artisanal mining in the DRC and Peru between 2011 and 2012. The project was funded by Misereor, Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (EED), Stiftung Umwelt und Entwicklung NRW (SUE) and the Foundation for International Dialogue of the Savings Bank in Bonn. I am indebted to Timothy Raeymaekers and colleagues at BICC for precious comments on earlier drafts and to participants of the European Conference on African Studies in June 2013 who commented on an earlier conference paper. Comments by anonymous reviewers of JMAS were of great value in strengthening my argument.

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