Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the ambiguous and ambivalent impact of Mai Mai militias in eastern DRC on different dimensions of state-making processes, including the exercise of regulatory authority, the enactment of rationalities of “the state”, and the diffusion of discourses on stateness and sovereignty.

Paper long abstract:

Drawing upon ethnographic research on Mai Mai groups in the territories of Fizi and Uvira (South Kivu, eastern DR Congo), in particular on their self-perceptions and modes of embedding in their social environment, this paper explores the ambiguous and ambivalent relations between Mai Mai groups and processes of state-making. It takes its point of departure in constructivist approaches to "the state" that focus on how "the state" is imagined, "called into being" and constructed through certain rationalities and everyday practices. It describes how on the one hand, Mai Mai groups undermine "the state's" regulatory authority and sources of income, by exercising fiscal, policing, military, justice and other governance functions. While these are often defined by governmentalities similar to those of Congolese stateness, audiences might view these practices of governance as more legitimate than those of state agents. On the other hand, Mai Mai militias reinforce the authority and sometimes the resources base of power-holders that are connected to the state apparatus, like politicians and army officers. Furthermore, by copying the symbols and nomenclature of "the state" and inscribing their actions in its rationalities, these militias contribute to reproducing discourses on stateness. At the same time, through their worldview of autochthony, they diffuse discourses on sovereignty, which are also central to processes of state-making. This leads to the puzzling conclusion that Mai Mai groups simultaneously make and unmake "the state" and therefore contribute to its constant redefinition and contextuality.