2011/10/03 by Yolanda Covington‐Ward · 6 citations
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #African history and culture studies #Communism, Protests, Social Movements #Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics #Nationalism #Independence (probability theory) #Ethnic group #Politics #Colonialism #Identity (music) #State (computer science) #Sociology #Gender studies #National identity #Law #Political science #Political economy #Anthropology #Aesthetics #Philosophy
paper · doi:10.1177/0021934711424491
published in Journal of Black Studies 43(1), 72-94 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2011/10/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
When most people think about the Belgian Congo and its path to independence on June 30, 1960, the figure that most frequently comes to mind is that of Patrice Lumumba and his strategy of uniting people across different ethnic groups. While Lumumba’s contributions have been well documented and recognized, this essay argues that the Kongo ethnic association–turned–political party, ABAKO (Association des BaKongo), and its leader Joseph Kasa-Vubu, were the driving force behind the independence movement in colonial Belgian Congo. ABAKO, however, used a completely different approach that successfully privileged ethnic nationalism, demonstrating that ideas of ethnic identity were often more important than a burgeoning national identity. Through the application of a performative analysis to three key events—the ABAKO countermanifesto of 1956; the Léopoldville rebellion of January, 1959; and the civil disobedience campaign advocating for an autonomous Kongo state in mid-1959—the author shows that members of ABAKO and its leadership effectively used performances of ethnic and territorial nationalism to greatly impact and lead the movement for Congolese independence.