Panel 78: Comparing the Copperbelts: Politics, Economy and Society in Haut Katanga (DR Congo) and the Zambian Copperbelt

This panel will explore aspects of the impact and legacy (economic, political, social and cultural) of mining on both sides of the Katanga-Copperbelt border. This region’s history has been powerfully shaped by its vast mineral wealth. This has affected the ways in which both Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo were integrated into the global economy and the relationship between these neighbouring regions and their respective nation-states. Despite their considerable commonalities, however, the Zambian Copperbelt and Haut-Katanga have followed divergent paths in many respects.

The panel seeks to explore whether and in what ways these commonalities and differences can be compared, so as to shed light on the historical and political trajectories of the regions, their peoples and the countries to which they are attached. As well as the familiar question of whether mineral resources are a curse or a blessing, the panel hopes to explore the interaction between mining and themes such as (but not limited to) political, civil society, and ethnic identity and mobilisation, urban-rural relations and gender and domestic relations.

Papers are invited on mining activities, political change and conflict, human security and societal relations in either (or both) these regions, in both recent history and the contemporary context. Discussant(s) and discussions will enable a comparative analysis of these issues.