Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Ethnic conflict – Macedonia (Republic)'

This thesis looks into the role of identity in ethnic conflict from social-psychological and cognitive perspectives.
The literature of Social Psychology suggests that one strategy of social groups under pressure or threat is to revert to their collective identity and manipulate it in ways that yield a distinct positive value for group members. Focusing on the main proponent of this view, Social Identity Theory, and transposing its premises onto an ethnic level, an Ethnic Identity Theory is proposed that explains ethnic identity's utility for the positive self-esteem of members of an ethnic group during a time of crisis.
As far as the cognitive aspect is concerned, the focus moves on to the individual level of analysis. It explores the issue of how information may be represented in the human brain, and proposes that it is due to particular 'exclusive' cognitive strategies of knowledge categorization, storing and re-processing that ethnic conflict is enhanced. Borrowing from Artificial Intelligence literature on Schemata and Frame theory, ethnic identity is treated as a frame with multiple slots for various traits that comprise an ethnic identity. Such modeling helps illustrate how properties related to the architecture of these mental structures result in the constructed ethnic identities becoming more rigid---their individual traits acquiring singular importance and, once challenged, affecting the whole identity.
This study concludes by pointing that, if intransigence and inflexibility concerning ethnic identity traits begins on a cognitive micro-level, then, little progress towards peace should be expected in on-going ethnic conflicts, unless cognitively unbiased third parties are involved in peace-making, and unless their involvement includes action on a cognitive-learning level to change convictions about warring groups members' perception of their own as well as others' ethnic identities.

This thesis considers the extent to which decentralisation in the Republic of Macedonia between 2005 and 2012 has been effective in reducing ethnic inequalities that exacerbate social divisions and can lead to conflict. Guided by the concept of horizontal inequalities, it identifies the factors which influenced the decision to devolve responsibilities to the municipalities after 2001. It examines the particular institutional design that Macedonian decentralisation took, and demonstrates how its use of local power-sharing mechanisms was intended to address the concerns of the Albanian and Macedonian communities simultaneously. This thesis takes an integrative approach to studying the political, administrative, and fiscal dimensions of decentralisation's implementation, and considers whether the reform has indeed contributed to the reduction of inequalities between Macedonia's ethnic groups. Where decentralisation's potential has not been reached, obstacles to its successful implementation are identified. While decentralisation alone may be unable to address all of the grievances raised by the Albanian community prior to 2001, this thesis argues that the reform has the potential to address many of the horizontal inequalities that were responsible for raising inter-ethnic tensions during the 1990s. However, decentralisation in Macedonia between 2005 and 2012 has only been partial, and advances in the administrative and political aspects of the reform have been undermined by limited progress in its fiscal dimension. Attempts to solve self-determination conflicts through decentralisation will fail if local self-governance exists only in form but not in substance.

This dissertation analyzes several topics related to political life in ethnically divided societies. In chapter 2, I study the relationship between ethnic social conflict, such as protests, riots, and armed inter-ethnic violence, and bloc partisan identification. I find that protests have no effect on bloc support for political parties, riots increase bloc partisan identification, and that armed violence reduces this phenomenon. In chapter 3, I analyze the factors that influence the targeting of ethnic groups by ethnic parties in social conflict. I find some empirical evidence that conditions favorable to vote pooling across ethnic lines reduce group targeting by ethnic parties. In chapter 4, I analyze the effects of ethnic demography on ethnic party behavior. Through a qualitative analysis of party behavior in local elections in Macedonia, I find that ethnic parties change their strategies in response to changes in ethnic demography. I find that co-ethnic parties are less likely to challenge each other for power under conditions of split demography. In fact, under conditions of split demography, I find that co-ethnic parties have political incentives to unite behind a single party because intra-group competition jeopardizes the group's hold on power.

This thesis explores why political elites in post-conflict ethnically divided states accommodate or resist each other across ethnic lines. The geographic focus of research is on post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia. In both countries the track record of post-conflict politics has been uneven and on some issues political elites still resist agreement and co-operation across ethnic lines. This thesis explores the reasons behind this mixed pattern of ethnic accommodation and resistance. Based on the post-conflict literature in social science, the thesis examines the impact that the following explanatory variables have on ethnic accommodation and resistance: power-sharing mechanisms, political party dynamics, informal practices, policy legacies, and external actors. The analysis is situated at the policy level. Two policy areas, highly sensitive for ethnic relations in the post-conflict context, are analysed and compared in each of the two countries. In Bosnia, the focus is on military and police reforms; in Macedonia, on minority education and decentralisation. Within the wider institutionalist approach, the empirical chapters present the findings of process tracing in each of the four policy fields. Based on these findings, the thesis demonstrates that although power sharing arrangements tend to lead to greater ethnic accommodation, they are not always sufficient to produce accommodating outcomes. Informal practices often supplement the work of formal institutions in providing incentives and means towards greater accommodation. External actors tend to enable greater accommodation when perceived as neutral and credible by domestic political elites. Ethnic divisions in both countries remain and require regular management by a flexible set of institutions, which can accommodate challenges unforeseen by peace agreements.

The purpose of this study is to ascertain and explain the effectiveness of Roma political activism in contesting state oppression in Macedonia and Serbia. More specifically, this thesis seeks to investigate the divergent treatment of Roma communities in the respective states by analyzing the role of state institutions, civil society, political parties and international organizations. The thesis seeks to provide a multi-level analysis of Roma mobilization in Macedonia and Serbia by addressing the domestic and international factors that influence Roma political activism, and relies on two main theoretical concepts within the social movement literature: the Political Opportunity Structure (POS) model and 'transnational advocacy networks.' The POS model is a comprehensive framework to assess if Roma political activism has been effective in Macedonia and Serbia. This study uses the following components to describe the domestic factors that may facilitate or constrain Romani activism in the respective states: state repression and/or facilitation, institutional access, influential domestic and international allies. This thesis attempts to provide a detailed analysis of movement dynamics by taking into account the inter-relationship between actors and contesting groups. The limitations of the domestic opportunity structure regarding Roma advocacy in Macedonia and Serbia are outlined by describing the political context concerning minority inclusion, institutional mechanisms, and NGO/political party activities. As domestic opportunity structures are 'closed,' Roma activists and NGOs seek international allies to influence and change domestic policy on Roma inclusion. This study, while recognizing the importance of other international initiatives, specifically focuses on various institutions of the European Union as the main international actor influencing Roma inclusion policies in Eastern Europe. The thesis outlines the main EU initiatives on Roma inclusion to provide an overview of the opportunities and challenges in the international arena. Furthermore, it analyzes the interaction between international and civil society organizations assessing the effectiveness of the 'transnational advocacy networks.' Finally, the thesis provides a comparative analysis of Roma political activism in Macedonia and Serbia, indicating coordinated action has not been successful.

Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Civil Military Relations))--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2004.
Thesis advisor(s): Donald Abenheim. Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-67). Also available online.

Notwithstanding a broad range of internal and external stresses, Macedonia was the only republic to attain its independence peacefully from the otherwise violent disintegration of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Subject of a timely and sustained international response, it was feted as a rare preventive success for the international community. Whilst not necessarily decisive, this mobilisation helped ensure a non-violent transition to independence. Yet, much to the surprise of outside observers, Macedonia would fall into conflict a decade after independence, when self-styled freedom fighters purporting to represent the local Albanian community launched an eight-month insurgency in the name of political and cultural equality. Triggered by a coalescence of political, nationalist, ideological and criminal interests, the insurgency had complex roots, as much an intra-Albanian putsch as a struggle for greater group rights. Regardless of their precise genesis, from the perspective of conflict prevention, the events of 2001 challenge popular assumptions of Macedonia as an international success story. Above all, they reinforce the need for external actors to incorporate short-term strategies of prevention targeting immediate sources of instability within a more comprehensive, long-term framework that addresses structural, underlying conflict causes. Indeed, whilst proximate threats to Macedonian stability were addressed, fundamental risk factors remained, namely social polarisation, a large ethnic minority disenfranchised with the state, economic under-development, high levels of organised crime and corruption, a weak rule-of-law and continuing regional uncertainty. These were partly aggravated by the mistakes of a complacent international community, whose engagement in the country, accordingly, receded over time. In particular, the dissertation is critical of the European Union for its initial failure to articulate a genuine pathway to membership for Macedonia and the broader western Balkans, as well as the handling of NATO's military intervention in neighbouring Kosovo. Of course, in any preventive endeavour, the international community can only do so much; in the first instance, responsibility lay with unresponsive Macedonian institutions, who failed to adequately address legitime Albanian demands dating from independence. Be that as it may, the international community was culpable for its failure to sufficiently apply the formidable soft-power leverage it wields over a weak Macedonian state to implement reforms that, conceivably, could have precluded the outbreak of armed conflict. As a case-study of prevention, Macedonia holds instructive lessons for scholars and policymakers. Yet it remains under-researched. Examining the period 1991-2001, this investigation analyses precisely why and how Macedonia avoided violence during the process of Yugoslav dissolution yet ultimately fell into conflict, and extrapolates broader lessons that may be applied to other at-risk societies. Its purpose is to advance understanding of a poorly understood country, and contribute knowledge to key on-going international security debates. Highlighting the inter-connectedness and trans-national character of contemporary security threats, it posits that the major powers have a practical interest in addressing emerging intra-state crises, even when the putative national interest appears marginal. To facilitate more timely multilateral responses, it calls for the de-nationalisation of security, and its conceptualisation in international - as opposed to strictly national - terms.

This thesis critically examines the common notion that the process of democratisation in multiethnic societies is directly linked with the emergence of ethnic nationalism and violent inter-communal conflict. Whereas generally assuming a positive relationship between democracy and the absence of violent conflict on the national as well as international level, academic studies maintain that this positive correlation does not apply to the actual process of democratisation, which, it is thought, may heighten interethnic tension and increase the risk of armed conflict in divided societies. Exposing the flaws in this argument, this thesis offers an alternative account of the relationship between democratisation and interethnic relations, suggesting that the former can in fact help to prevent violent conflict in societies divided along ethnic lines. Drawing on literature from democratisation theory and peace and conflict studies, and applying it to two case studies, Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia, this thesis shows that the development of democracy - albeit flawed - helped to moderate inter-communal tension between the ethnic Bulgarian majority and the Turkish minority in Bulgaria, and the ethnic Macedonian and Albanian communities in Macedonia. Comparing the experiences of Bulgaria and Macedonia in the 1990s, this thesis further suggests that the existence of unresolved issues over the gratification of certain fundamental human needs such as identity, security and recognition, amongst ethnic communities in heterogeneous societies must be resolved outside of the liberal democratic process, since needs are non-negotiable and as such cannot be bargained over through the democratic process. Furthermore, without some measure of national/political unity that is inclusive of ethnic communities, peaceful democratisation will be seriously undermined. Additionally, an aspect that has not been adequately accounted for in studies on democratisation in ethnically plural societies is the way in which the external security environment influences the domestic process of democratisation.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2010.
Title from electronic title page (viewed Jun. 23, 2010). "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Political Science, Concentration TransAtlantic Studies." Discipline: Political Science; Department/School: Political Science.

This research seeks to review the level of knowledge achieved in interpreting the relationship between the ethnic diversity at the workplace in the public sector and the organizational performance; as well as seeks to contribute in understanding the implications of this relationship. The study commenced with investigating the academic research in the relevant area addressing the following research questions: (a) How are diversity management and organizational performance conceptualized? (b) What are the existing findings of research concerning diversity at the workplace in the public organizations and organizational performance? (c) What factors intervene the relationship between the diversity and organizational performance? Based on the findings from the review of the academic research, this study seeks to contribute in understanding the ethnic diversity – performance relationship and its mplications at the local level in the Macedonian context. The reform process in Macedonia as a multicultural society, where for many years, inter-ethnic relations have been one of the most sensitive political issues, affecting both the stability of the country and the progress, focused mainly on the implementation of the decentralization and inclusion of ethnic minorities in the decision making process. With the implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement workforce at the units of local self-government in Republic of Macedonia is becoming more balanced with respect to ethnic minorities, with more workforce participation than ever by Albanians, Turks, Roma and other minorities. As public organizations at local level become more diverse along ethnic lines, it makes sense to pay more attention to how different ethnic groups interact with one another at work. Thus it gives additional importance on the research question addressed in the study and gives significance of the research in a broader scope.

This research seeks to review the level of knowledge achieved in interpreting the relationship between the ethnic diversity at the workplace in the public sector and the organizational performance; as well as seeks to contribute in understanding the implications of this relationship. The study commenced with investigating the academic research in the relevant area addressing the following research questions: (a) How are diversity management and organizational performance conceptualized? (b) What are the existing findings of research concerning diversity at the workplace in the public organizations and organizational performance? (c) What factors intervene the relationship between the diversity and organizational performance? Based on the findings from the review of the academic research, this study seeks to contribute in understanding the ethnic diversity – performance relationship and its mplications at the local level in the Macedonian context. The reform process in Macedonia as a multicultural society, where for many years, inter-ethnic relations have been one of the most sensitive political issues, affecting both the stability of the country and the progress, focused mainly on the implementation of the decentralization and inclusion of ethnic minorities in the decision making process. With the implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement workforce at the units of local self-government in Republic of Macedonia is becoming more balanced with respect to ethnic minorities, with more workforce participation than ever by Albanians, Turks, Roma and other minorities. As public organizations at local level become more diverse along ethnic lines, it makes sense to pay more attention to how different ethnic groups interact with one another at work. Thus it gives additional importance on the research question addressed in the study and gives significance of the research in a broader scope.

Thesis (M.A. in International Security and Civil-Military Relations)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2004.
Thesis advisor(s): Jessica Piombo, Anne Clunan. Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-124). Also available online.

Le 27 août 1991, l’opinion publique internationale prenait acte de la naissance de la République de Moldavie, dont deux tiers du territoire ont constituées jusqu’en 1941 la province roumaine de Bessarabie. Depuis toujours, la Principauté de Moldavie se trouve dans une confluence de trois grandes cultures : slave, latine et orientale ; trois grandes religions : orthodoxe, catholique et musulmane ; trois grands peuples : slave, latin et turc et trois courants idéologiques : panslavisme, panturquisme et pan-latinisme. C’est pourquoi, à travers les siècles, la Principauté de Moldavie a manœuvré constamment entre ces Puissances et ces courants pour garder son identité nationale. Aujourd’hui, en principe, la Moldavie est toujours dans la situation de jongler entre la CEI et l’UE, entre Est et Ouest, sa situation géopolitique étant la même.Dans la Première partie de notre thèse nous avons étudié l’origine, la toponymie et les frontières de la Bessarabie, mais aussi l’engouement des Grandes Puissances pour ce territoire. Nous traiterons aussi les guerres et les négociations de paix qui la caractérisent, allant de la guerre russo-turque jusqu’au régime tsariste qui y régnait. Nous avons ensuite suivi les changements subis par la Bessarabie pendant la Première guerre mondiale, avec la création de la République Démocratique Moldave, tout en s’attardant sur le processus de la création de l’URSS avec ses répercussions sur l’évolution de la Moldavie soviétique poststalinienne. Nous avons finalement, étudié ici-même la question des nationalités, et les concepts de « nation », « nationalisme », « dénationalisation », « russification », « collectivisme », « moldovenisme » etc.La Deuxième partie démarre avec des questions sur l’identité nationale moldave, et l’éclatement des conflits régionaux. Nous décrivons les minorités séparatistes de Gagaouzie et de Transnistrie, qui n’acceptent pas la souveraineté de la Moldavie. Le régime de Tiraspol est un régime oppressif et totalitaire, qui doit être éloigné par l’action des facteurs externes. De plus, nous étudions la création de la CEI et GUAM, l’implication de l’OSCE, de l’UE, de la Russie, de l’Ukraine et de la Roumanie dans le processus de négociation pour la résolution du conflit transnistrien. Finalement, nous examinons la manière avec laquelle la « fédéralisation », et la « régionalisation » peuvent résoudre les conflits ethniques en Moldavie. En conclusion nous répondons aux questions centrales sur le territoire et la population moldave
On August 27 1991, the international public opinion acknowledges the birth of the Republic of Moldova, which has represented two-thirds of the Romanian province of Bessarabia until 1941. During the history, Principality of Moldova is parting of the ways of three cultures: Slavic, Latin and Eastern; three great religions: Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim; three populations: Slavic, Latin and Turkish; and three ideologies: Pan-Slavism, Pan-Turkism and pan-Latin. Therefore, over the centuries, the Principality of Moldova has continuously handled these Great Powers and ideologies to keep its national identity. Nowadays, Moldova is still able to pursue between CIS and EU policies and between East and West geopolitical situation.In the first part of the thesis, we study the origin, toponyms and borders of Bessarabia, and we characterize the interest of the Great Powers for this territory. For it we describe, the wars and peace negotiations, starting with the Russo-Turkish war until the period of Bessarabia under the tsarist rule. Moreover, we treated the period of Bessarabia during the First World War, but also the creation of the Moldavian Democratic Republic, describing the process of foundation the USSR and its impact on the evolution of the post-Stalin Soviet Moldova. Finally, we studied the nationality question and the concepts like the "nation", the "nationalism", the "denationalization", the "Russification", the collectivism", the "moldovenism" etc...The Second Part starts with questions about the Moldovan national identity and the outbreaks of regional conflicts. We raise the issue of the separatist minorities of Gagauzia and Transnistria, which do not accept the sovereignty of Moldova. The Tiraspol regime is a totalitarian and oppressive regime, which must be removed by the action of external factors. Moreover, we study the creation of the CIS and GUAM and the involvement of the OSCE, EU, Russia, Ukraine and Romania in the negotiation process for the resolution of the Transnistrian conflict. Finally, we discuss the possibilities of how cans the "federalization" and "regionalization" solves the ethnic conflicts in Moldova. In conclusion, we answer to the questions dealing about the territory and the Moldovan population

Defence date: 23 September 2005
Examining board: Prof. Philippe C. Schmitter (European University Institute, supervisor) ; Prof. Jan Zielonka (Oxford University/European University Institute) ; Prof. Ivo Banac (Yale University, external co-supervisor) ; Prof. Stefano Bianchini (University of Bologna)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 2017

Since its independence 25 years ago, Macedonia has been besieged by considerable inter-ethnic tensions and sporadic violence. In addition, a short armed conflict took place in 2001. The conflict between its majority Orthodox Christian Macedonians and minority Sunni Muslim Albanians in many ways dates back to at least the late 19th century. Over time, the nature and intensity of this conflict has shifted from peaceful, yet strained, coexistence to open warfare. This thesis focuses on Macedonian-Albanian relations since independence in 1991 and contends that conflict is the result of three overarching factors: incompatible worldviews; competing constitutional rights claims; and an anocratic state that lacks democratic institutions to manage conflict. The thesis analyses the worldviews, informed largely by nationalist doctrines and religious belief systems, of the two communities. While these worldviews are not universal across both ethnic groups, they do form the basis from which many currently perceive reality. These worldviews shape the way in which individuals from both groups understand themselves and their collective interests, and how they perceive ethno-religious ‘others’. Because of their worldviews, the two groups understand contemporary problems differently and their opposing visions for the future result in widely conflicting solutions. Competing rights claims between the two groups are a struggle to assert dominance over the state by the Macedonians, and exercise greater self-governance by the Albanians. These competing rights claims – constitutional status of ethnic Albanians, local self-government, proportional public employment, parliamentary veto powers, and the use of minority languages – principally stem from the incompatible worldviews of the two communities and their respective visions for the state. Macedonia’s anocratic state and weak institutions are unable to provide an effective bargaining mechanism to negotiate conflicting rights claims. Nor is either community able to provide credible guarantees that it is committed to a peaceful resolution of the issues or a long-term rapprochement. In addition, a culture of ethnic outbidding by political elites, within both communities, has grown over the past two and a half decades resulting in the ethnicisation of many political issues. The larger political parties, under international auspices, attempted to resolve some of these issues through significant constitutional and legislative amendments agreed to under the Framework Agreement. Rather than addressing these issues the Framework Agreement has exacerbated the causes of conflict, while becoming a contentious matter in and of itself. The thesis contends that there cannot be peaceful cohabitation or successful national integration between the two communities under the status quo.

Thesis (M.S.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 2007.
Thesis advisor: Timothy Rickard. "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Science in Geography." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-103). Also available via the World Wide Web.

碩士
淡江大學
歐洲研究所碩士班
97
When the Cold War came to an end with the collapse of Soviet Union, more troubles were looming as a new regional conflict broke out in the Balkans. Several republics separated from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The European Community (European Union) became the vanguard of international efforts to deal with Yugoslavia’s disunion. More specifically, the European Community (European Union) wanted to prevent the Yugoslavian turmoil from spilling into Southeastern Europe. Regarding to the unanimous vote in the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), every member state should have the common position for joint actions and decisions. Greece strongly and persistently refused to recognize Republic of Macedonia., and therefore the European Union could not recognize Republic of Macedonia without the approval of Greece. In order to avoid the extension of war, the European Union’s member states decided to recognize Macedonia. This action caused the dispute between Greece and the Union which broke their mutual relationship of trust. In terms of theory of neo-realism, the thesis aims to analyze the refusing factors of Greece to the Republic of Macedonia’s independence, and to study in detail the decisions and actions which Greece made based upon national interests, and to research the conflict and the final reconciliation between Greece and the European Union.

Since independence, Burundi has lost over a million of its inhabitants to ethnic conflict. Political collaboration is divided along ethnic lines and this has destroyed the ethnic solidarity and good social relationships that characterized the pre-colonial period. Ideally, the mission of the Evangelical Church of Central Africa (ECCA) when faced with Burundi’s tragic and successive socio-ethnic wars should have been to promote peace, social justice, ethnic cohabitation, national reconciliation, respect for human rights, national reconstruction and to denounce all harm and discrimination against the human being. The ECCA has a sacred mission to announce the gospel to all humanity and to assist the people towards the positive socio-economic and political transformation of Burundi. This study will be of help to missiological scholars and to the church so that it may better carry out its prophetic mission according to God’s vision and with the purpose of positively transforming Burundian society.
Christian Spritituality, Church History and Missiology
M. Th. (Missiology)

Armed conflict and violence against civilians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has persisted for years starting in the 1990s. The Eastern, Western and North-Eastern parts of the country have seen the presence of a multiplicity of armed groups that have caused an escalation of the humanitarian crisis. The United Nations, in the interest of civilian protection, peacekeeping and security sector reform in the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared a mission under The United Nations Organisational Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC). In spite of this mission, civilians continued in the Congo to suffer attacks and to endure human rights abuses by the armed militants that are fighting government and the government forces in shape of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC). This study examines the problematique of the mandate of MONUC in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in light of the challenges that have made its success debatable. The success of MONUC has become debatable in light of the fact that in spite of its presence and implementation in the DRC, between 2007 and 2010, conflict and the violence against civilians escalated to unprecedented levels. This study examines the causalities of the failure and observes its effect while making propositions towards amelioration of the challenges and the failure of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Political Sciences
M.A. (International Politics)

Pour des raisons de limitation, cette thèse analyse le thème de la réconciliation à partir des pratiques traditionnelles des Baluba du Katanga; elle concerne et s'applique également aux autres ethnies bantu en Afrique Centrale où ces pratiques sont similaires.
La détérioration des relations et la fragilité de la cohésion entre certains groupes sociaux en RD Congo remontent à 1958, peu avant l’indépendance du pays en 1960. Depuis ce temps, les conflits socio-politiques affectent profondément les groupes ethniques et les conditions économiques sont de plus en plus mauvaises. Depuis son indépendance, le pays a traversé de nombreuses périodes de conflits, sans aucune accalmie durable. De 1960 à 1964, les fréquentes guerres de sécessions, des rébellions et des guerres interethniques ont déstabilisé toute la structure sociale du pays. Les tentatives de réconciliation ont eu des résultats mitigés et parfois des solutions de courte durée. Le coup d’État de 1965, a plongé davantage le pays dans la violence : le pouvoir a été confisqué par les membres du parti unique et la gestion des biens publics a été confiée à quelques groupes ethniques privilégiés. Les frustrations et les injustices suscitèrent des insurrections et des soulèvements populaires, souvent réprimés dans le sang. Les efforts de démocratisation de 1990 n’ont pas rétabli l’équilibre des pouvoirs. Plusieurs groupes ethniques lésés se sont radicalisés et ont étayé leurs revendications par des actions violentes et meurtrières. La situation ne s’est guère améliorée depuis la fin de la dictature et perdure encore de nos jours. Pourtant, l’histoire montre qu’en RD Congo, les ethnies avaient un système traditionnel de résolution des conflits de diverses natures. Grâce à un enquête de terrain, nous avons reconstitué ce processus qui conduisait à une réconciliation durable parce qu’elle résultait d’une concertation communautaire sous l’arbre-à-palabre. Selon nos interlocuteurs, ces pratiques traditionnelles de réconciliation ont fait leurs preuves. Dans une perspective d’inculturation de l’Évangile, elles peuvent être interprétées et adaptées, puis intégrées à la vie de l’Église et à sa mission de réconciliation en RD Congo. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons un modèle chrétien et inculturé de réconciliation, élaboré à partir des pratiques et des rites traditionnels des Baluba. Pour constituer ses composantes essentielles, nous avons fait une sélection critique de ces éléments traditionnels, qui ont des potentialités de paix. Nous les avons ensuite mis en corrélation avec ceux retenus d’une analyse du récit de la réconciliation entre Jacob et Ésaü (Gn 32–33) et de son appropriation chrétienne à partir des enseignements de Jésus (Mt 5. 21-26) et de Paul (2 Co 5. 11-21). Ce modèle chrétien inculturé est proposé à l’Église et ses partenaires pour être mis en œuvre auprès de la communauté chrétienne, dont les Baluba, et dans l’ensemble de la société congolaise. La première étape de cette mise en œuvre sera un travail de conscientisation et de concertation débouchant sur des expériences pratiques et concrètes de la réconciliation dans des communautés locales, qui pourront servir d’inspiration à d’autres niveaux. La démarche réalisée ici invite aussi à poursuivre des réflexions interdisciplinaires sur la réconciliation durable à partir des pratiques de la culture africaine traditionnelle.
The deterioration of relations and the fragility of cohesion between several social groups in the DR Congo date back to 1958, shortly before the country’s independence in 1960. Since then, socio-political conflicts have profoundly affected ethnic relations and economic conditions have even worsened. Since its independence, the country has gone through many periods of conflict, without any lasting peace. From 1960 to 1964, frequent secession wars, rebellions and inter-ethnic conflicts have destabilized the entire social structure of the country. Attempts for reconciliation have had mixed results and sometimes short-lived solutions. The 1965 coup plunged the country further into violence: power ended up in the hands of members of the sole ruling party and the management of public assets got entrusted to select members of influential ethnic groups. Frustrations and lack of distributive justice engendered insurrections and popular uprisings, which were often quelled by bloody repression. Attempts to democratization since 1990 have not restored the balance of powers. Several ethnic groups, feeling unfavourably treated, have become radicalized and have used deadly violence in support of their claims. The situation has hardly improved since the end of dictatorship and persists even these days. Yet, history shows that in the DR Congo, ethnic groups had a traditional system of resolving various kinds of conflicts. Through a field survey, we have reconstructed the process which usually brought about lasting reconciliation, since it was grounded in community consultations under a palaver tree. Accounts by participants in our survey suggest that such traditional practices of reconciliation have demonstrated their efficiency. From the theological perspective of an inculturation of the Gospel, they can be reinterpreted and adapted, then integrated into the life of the Church and into its mission of reconciliation in the DR Congo. In this dissertation, we propose a Christian and contextualized model of reconciliation, grounded in the traditional practices and rites of the Baluba. To constitute its essential components, we have critically selected traditional elements which have shown their potential for peace. We have then correlated them with elements from a narrative analysis of the reconciliation between Jacob and Esau (Gen. 32–33) and its Christian reinterpretation through the teachings of Jesus (Mt 5. 21-26) and Paul (2 Co 5. 11-21). This contextualized Christian model is being proposed to the Church and its partners for implementation within the Christian community, including the Baluba, and within the entire Congolese society. The first step of this implementation process will consist of the raising of awareness and of consultations, thus leading to practical and actual experiences of reconciliation in local communities, which, in turn, will serve as a source of inspiration at further levels. The approach taken here also invites continued interdisciplinary reflections on lasting reconciliation grounded in traditional African cultural practices.