Abstract:

While the state in the Central African Republic is characterized by what can be called chronic political instability, everyday life and administration in the capital Bangui seems quite steady. In this lecture, I analyze the various relations between citizens and public authorities in mundane interactions to investigate what I call ‘everyday statehood’. Drawing on ethnographic observations and interviews, I will elaborate on how public authorities and citizens build relations and manage expectations in urban Bangui, despite a rather absent central state.

The talk is based on the research project ‘Everyday Statehood at the Geopolitical Margin’ financed by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung. Huge thanks to Nancy Ousmane Pénema and Désiré Appolinaire Datoloum who have collected most of the data for the project on which I base this analysis.

Lotje de Vries is associate professor at the Sociology of Development and Change Group of Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Her research focuses on borders, insecurity and relations between citizens and public authority in contexts of crisis. She currently is a senior fellow with MIASA, University of Ghana.