Africana Periodical Literature 
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 Periodical article |
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| Title: | The political economy of migration and reputation in Kinshasa |
| Author: | Trapido, Joseph |
| Year: | 2011 |
| Periodical: | Africa: Journal of the International African Institute (ISSN 0001-9720) |
| Volume: | 81 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Pages: | 204-225 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic terms: | Congo (Democratic Republic of) Europe |
| Subjects: | migration social status patronage popular music political economy |
| External links: | https://doi.org/10.1017/S0001972011000064 http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/africa_the_journal_of_the_international_african_institute/v081/81.2.trapido.pdf |
| Abstract: | This essay presents a history of the 'mikiliste', the high-living bon vivant who travels to Europe and is a central figure in the urban mythology of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. It looks in particular at the highly theatrical exchanges engaged in by the 'mikiliste', which relate especially to music patronage and to designer clothing. The author shows how these exchanges have evolved over time, both shaping and being shaped by the political economy of Kinshasa. He also shows how such aesthetic performances should not be discussed in isolation from wider political-economic considerations. Those who participate in economies of prestige must be connected to a material base, and the ruling class, with their access to the resources of the interior, have become ever more important participants in the 'mikiliste' rituals of largesse. Recently, the violent contestation of 'mikiliste' exchange, both in Europe and in Kinshasa, indicates that such moments of largesse may be involved in reproducing political-economic relations in the Congolese capital. Bibliogr., notes., ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract] |
