"Our Future Is Already in Jeopardy"

Duress and the Palimpsest of Violence of Two CAR Student Refugees in the DRC

in Conflict and Society
Author:
Maria Catherina Wilson Janssens Leiden University m.c.wilson@hum.leidenuniv.nl

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3167/arcs.2018.040116
Keywords:
Central African Republic; Democratic Republic of Congo; duress; education access; Kinshasa; urban refugees; urban youth; violence
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Abstract

Duress results from the internalization of violence. Through the narratives of two Central African Republic student refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo, this article presents the multiple layers of violence they experience. After introducing violence, the article turns to its different layers by making use of the palimpsest metaphor. Three layers of violence interrelate and overlap: the first relates to chronic crisis in the Central African Republic; the second layer deals with the context of the urban jungle (Kinshasa); and the third layer is linked to the humanitarian agencies that fail to provide for urban refugees. The experience of these three layers adds up to duress. Duress colors the students’ agency and the decisions they make along their life paths.

Contributor Notes

MARIA CATHERINA WILSON JANSSENS is a PhD candidate at Leiden University. She previously studied languages and cultures of Africa at Ghent University and Leiden University. She has been traveling to Central Africa since 2005, first to the Democratic Republic of Congo and then to the Central African Republic. She graduated from a research master’s program with a thesis on “The Congolese Yankee" in which she describes the language practices of urban youth in Kisangani, DR Congo’s third-biggest city. Her research focuses on urban youth, mobility, identity, and violence. Email: m.c.wilson@hum.leidenuniv.nl

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Conflict and Society

Advances in Research

Cover Conflict and Society
Article Category:
Research Article
Page Count:
17
Keywords:
Central African Republic; Democratic Republic of Congo; duress; education access; Kinshasa; urban refugees; urban youth; violence
Print Publication Date:
01 Jan 2018
Online Publication Date:
01 Jan 2018
Copyright:
© Berghahn Books 2018

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