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Domesticating Diamonds and Dollars: Identity, Expenditure and Sharing in Southwestern Zaire (1984–1997)

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  • Filip De Boeck

Abstract

This article explores the impact of the recent diamond traffic on both rural and urban life in southwestern Congo‐Zaire, in an attempt at a ‘multi‐sited’ ethnography of the circulation of cultural meanings, commodities, money and identities in an increasingly diffuse time‐space, in which the standard dichotomies between rural and urban worlds, lived world and system, traditional and modern, or precapitalist and capitalist realities have lost much of their explanatory strength. More specifically, the article deals with the widespread phenomenon of the bana Lunda, ‘the children of Lunda’, young Congolese urbanites who travel from all over southwestern Zaire to the Angolan province of Lunda Norte in order to dig or dive for diamonds in the UNITA‐controlled territories. It investigates the changes brought about by the diamond trade and by the influx of these urban youngsters into the rural border area, as well as the impact of the accompanying monetization, known as ‘dollarization’, on the daily life of villagers and urbanites in Southwestern Zaire.

Suggested Citation

  • Filip De Boeck, 1998. "Domesticating Diamonds and Dollars: Identity, Expenditure and Sharing in Southwestern Zaire (1984–1997)," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 29(4), pages 777-810, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:29:y:1998:i:4:p:777-810
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-7660.00099
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    Cited by:

    1. Grtz, Tilo, 2009. "Moralities, risk and rules in West African artisanal gold mining communities: A case study of Northern Benin," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-2), pages 12-17.
    2. Jeroen Cuvelier, 2014. "Work and Masculinity in Katanga’s Artisanal Mines," Africa Spectrum, Institute of African Affairs, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 49(2), pages 3-26.
    3. Werthmann, Katja, 2017. "The drawbacks of privatization: Artisanal gold mining in Burkina Faso 1986–2016," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 418-426.
    4. Nik Stoop & Marijke Verpoorten, 2020. "Risk, Envy and Magic in the Artisanal Mining Sector of South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 51(5), pages 1199-1224, September.

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