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| Title: | Entrepreneurs and parasites: the struggle for indigenous capitalism in Zaire |
| Author: | MacGaffey, Janet |
| Year: | 1987 |
| Issue: | 57 |
| Pages: | 241 |
| Language: | English |
| Series: | African studies series (ISSN 0065-406X) |
| City of publisher: | Cambridge |
| Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
| ISBN: | 0521335337 |
| Geographic term: | Congo (Democratic Republic of) |
| Subjects: | class formation informal sector |
| Abstract: | A striking feature of Zaire is the extent of the second, or parallel, economy, consisting of unmeasured and unrecorded economic activity that evades taxation. The enormous expansion of this sector in the 1970s and 1980s, and the failure of State control of the economy that this reflects, indicate that the State is no longer the principal means of class formation that it has been held to be since independence. The major themes of this book are the emergence of a true capitalist class, investing in production for local consumption and not just in distribution; the role of capital accumulation from second economy activities in this process; and the effects of the weakening of the postindependence State and the incomplete penetration of capitalism. Historical factors, particularly Zaire's colonial experience, affected the development of the economy and the nature of the dominant class that emerged after independence. Other factors examined include the role of individual initiative, innovation and skill, and the significance of gender and ethnicity, in class formation. Special attention is given to two categories in the population who have particularly benefited from accumulation in the second economy, Nande traders from North Kivu, and businesswomen in Kisangani. |