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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Zaire: The Shattered Illusion of the Integral State
Author:Young, CrawfordISNI
Year:1994
Periodical:Journal of Modern African Studies
Volume:32
Issue:2
Period:June
Pages:247-263
Language:English
Geographic term:Congo (Democratic Republic of)
Subjects:political systems
Politics and Government
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/161769
Abstract:This article examines three versions of the integral State which have punctuated the history of Zaire, leading up to its recent decline. By 'integral State', the author has in mind a design of perfected hegemony, whereby the State seeks to achieve unrestricted domination over civil society. The first version was erected under Belgian auspices, and reached a pinnacle of apparently unchallenged hegemony from the 1920s until the mid-1950s. The second was a merely latent version, implicit in the nationalist vision of the forces of Lumumbism, which external intervention and historical conjuncture aborted. The third was constructed by the 'new regime' headed by Mobutu after the military high command had seized power in November 1965. The fact that two of these projects decomposed in spectacular fashion, and that the other was stillborn, suggests that the integral State was a flawed notion from the outset. The illusion of the integral State lies shattered today and the nature of its successor has yet to be revealed. Notes, ref.
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