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nm u Ottawa L'UniversiW canadienne Canada's university TTTTT FACULTE DES ETUDES SUPERIEURES t=J FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND ET POSTOCTORALES u Ottawa POSDOCTORAL STUDIES L'UmveiMtc? eanaiiienne Cdiidda's university Christa Romaldi AUTEUR DE LA THESE / AUTHOR OF THESIS M.A. (Globalization and International Development) GRADETDEGREE Schoo„„„._.__l of Globalizatio^ n and International Development) A Quiet Revolution: Youth Perception of State and Church Ideology in 2/jl>r£ TITRE DE LA THESE / TITLE OF THESIS „„.„„„„„._.„„„_„.„„.Eric Allina-Pisan_ o CO-DIRECTEUR (CO-DIRECTRICE) DE LA THESE / THESIS CO-SUPERVISOR Meredith Terretta Richard Maclure Gary W- Slater Le Doyen de la Faculte des etudes supeneures et postdoctorales / Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies A Quiet Revolution? Youth Perception of State and Church Ideology in Zaire Christa Romaldi Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the MA degree in Globalization and International Development Globalization and International Development Faculty of Social Sciences University of Ottawa Christa Romaldi, Ottawa, Canada, 2010 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-74200-6 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-74200-6 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduce, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciaies ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extra its substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. ••I Canada Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Eric Allinla-Pisano , for his commitment to this project, I would also like to extend a special thanks to Jean-Claude Mboka, a classmate in the MA Globalization and International Development program, who assisted me in acquiring two Congolese textbooks that gr eatly improved my thesis. ii Abstract This thesis focuses on the power struggle between Mobutu's administration and the Catholic Church as it played out in the realm of education. In particular, it focuses on how state ideology, meaning authenticity and Mobutism, pervaded education through textbooks and teaching materials in 1970s Zaire and how the Catholic Church attempted to resist state ideology through education as well. Discourse analysis was used to determine how state dogma and Church opposition were disseminated to youth via educational materials. Furthermore, I examine how and why youth responded to this power struggle through the examination of painting, music and literature created by the 1970s cohort as they aged. Again, discourse analysis is used to understand the meanings conveyed through the art. Youth, I argue, have rejected Mobutu and his ideologies and remain uncertain, perhaps even suspicious, of the Catholic Church's role in Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo). in Table of Contents Introduction: Youth Perception of State and Church in the 1970s Zaire 1 1. Research Objectives 5 2. Rationale 8 3. Literature Review 9 3.1 Power and Knowledge: Discourse in Education 10 3.2 Generational Identity: Youth and Memory 14 3.3 Education in Zaire: Structure and Statistics 16 4. Research Design 21 5. Methods and Data Collection 22 6. Data Analysis 25 7. Overview 25 Chapter One: A Brief History of State and Church in Education 27 1. Pre-colonial Education 27 2. Colonial Education 28 3. Post-independence Education 32 Chapter Two: State and Church in 1970s Education 49 1. Contesting Education in the Classroom: Actors and Debates 49 2. Extracurricular Activity: Contestation in the Media and Informal Education 61 3. Zairian Textbooks 65 3.1 Antiquity and the Pre-Colonial Era in the Congo River Basin 67 3.2 The Colonial Era 75 3.3 Independence and the Post-Colonial Era 78 4. Concluding Remarks 82 Chapter Three: A Sketch of Generational Identity: Evidence in the Arts 84 1. The Arts: Painting, Music, and Literature 87 2. Perception of State 95 3. Perception of the Catholic Church 109 4. Perception of the West 113 5. Perception of Self 117 6. Concluding Remarks 125 Conclusion: Reflections of Ideology in Identity 127 1. Findings: Teaching Materials 127 2. Findings: Artwork 129 3. Findings: Regeneration 132 4. Conclusion 134 IV 5. Final Word 136 Bibliography 138 v Introduction: Youth Perception of State and Church in 1970s Zaire This thesis examines how Mobutu Sese Seko, formerly Joseph Desire Mobutu, the President of Zaire1 (1965-1997), disseminated ideology through various educational media in an attempt to create an obedient youth population in 1970s Zaire, how the youth responded to his attempts, and why his attempts were unsuccessful. In particular, I examine how Mobutu's political party, the Mouvementpopulaire de la revolution (MPR), used education to institutionalize an official history of Zaire in an effort to promote pro-MPR sentiment among youth. The Catholic Church, which had been the official state provider of education in the Belgian Congo until the mid-1950s and continued to run the majority of schools beyond independence, resisted the MPR's attempt to manage education. Through the administration of separate school boards, the writing of their own text books, and the creation of state and Church-specific extra-curricular activities, the two institutions vied for dominance in education to shape the youth of the nation. The state-church tensions evident in education were imprinted on youth, which is evident upon exploration of this cohort's (those born close to independence and educated in the 1970s) popular art. It is clear that both the state and Church's attempts to influence youth were largely unsuccessful. The popular art suggests that this cohort trusted neither the state nor the Church to work for the common good. The state did not follow through on promises made in educational material, while the Church could not rid the perception that it was both connected to colonialism and the MPR. Opposition to both institutions is a common theme in the popular art, suggesting that the 1970s cohort wanted change and would act to achieve it. 11 use the historically accurate name of the country throughout the paper. During the colonial period, I use Belgian Congo; 1960-1964 Congo-Leopold; 1965-1971 Democratic Republic of the Congo; 1971-1997 Zaire; and 1997 to present Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). 1 According to Crawford Young, expression of anti-government sentiment and popular participation in anti-government activity diminished following the internal conflict between 1960 and 1965.2 The violence of the immediate post-independence era had traumatized the population and instilled fear in them." Independence had come swifter than first intended by the Belgian Congo's colonial rulers, who had initially planned on a gradual incorporation of the African majority into the Belgian administration, yielding shared governance between Africans, Belgians, and other Europeans.4 Africans in the Belgian Congo, however, expressed vocal opposition to the Belgian administration in 1956; rioting followed three years later in Kinshasa. This open opposition led King Baudouin of Belgium to promise independence, which sparked further protest and action against ongoing colonial rule. The state soon lost control of key districts. Popular sentiment, economic losses (including a sharp economic downturn leading to $1 billion in external debt in 1960), lack of faith in the Force Publique, the militia, to protect against nationalist protest and fear due to the French- Algerian conflict, led the Belgians to hold a Round Table in Brussels.5 The Belgians invited the leaders of eleven Congolese political parties and three Belgian parties to a conference in early 1960 to discuss the terms and timetable for Independence. All Congolese parties, even those sympathetic to the Belgians, wanted immediate independence. The Belgians conceded but on the premise that the transition to Congolese rule would occur after independence and the Belgians would maintain