DR Congo: Roadblocks at the Rhythm of the Country

Judith Verweijen, Kasper Hoffmann & Godefroid Muzalia

Roadblocks & Revenues Working Paper Series #07

This Working Paper develops a political sociology of roadblocks to demonstrate how roadblocks in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) contribute to the production and reproduction of public authority. Using a dramaturgical approach, the authors show how during roadblock encounters, public authority is instantaneously produced through the joint performances of roadblock agents, roadblocks and road users. The approach offers a refined conceptualisation of agency during roadblock encounters, which provides a better understanding of when and why people comply with demands made by roadblock operators and of the cumulative effects of the micro-practices enacted at roadblocks on broader sociopolitical orders

This paper is the seventh in a new working paper series on Roadblocks and Revenues, a collaboration between the Danish Institute for International Studies, the International Centre for Tax and Development and the Centre on Armed Groups.