Paper short abstract:

Based on recent field research carried out in the CAR, this paper will explore the impact of the CAR conflict on urban governance in Bangui, focusing on the pluralisation of non-state actors involved in governance at the local level and competing for control of the urban space.

Paper long abstract:

Following the military coup by the Seleka coalition in 2013, violence broke out in Bangui. As a result of the Anti-balaka offensive in the capital in December 2013, Muslim inhabitants were forced into exile or to seek refuge in the Muslim enclave of PK5, leading to a lasting reconfiguration of the urban space. New occupants have retained property seized during the war, while armed actors remain rooted in several districts of Bangui. Multiple "autonomous zones" (Lombard, 2016) where the state and public services first appear as non-existent emerged following the war, not only in the hinterland but also in the capital.

However, this apparent "absence of the state" does not equate with the absence of authority. In these spaces, armed actors tend to supplant public authorities in providing security and regulating access to land and income. In the PK5 district, self-defence groups actively engage in local governance by performing functions that traditionally fall under state authority (collecting taxes, judging cases, ensuring protection). These locally rooted groups interact with populations according to a protection vs. extortion arrangement in constant negotiation (Vlassenroot and Delaleeuwe, 2008). Populations are thus caught up in a complex system of power relations made of various constraints and opportunities deriving from different state and non-state authorities which coexist at the local level. This paper will explore these new "configurations of power" (Roitman, 1999) and how these pluralised forms of authority maintain ambiguous relationships, not only characterised by rivalries but also by negotiations and reciprocities (Raeymaekers and al, 2008).