SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This article examines the Democratic Republic of Congo’s liberalisation, led by the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and supported by northern donors, from a security perspective. It brings evidence from the province of Katanga and finds that, with regard to the economy, policies sponsor but do not achieve compliance with neoliberalism. The Congolese state has accommodated extroverted processes of liberalisation, but domestically it resists, forestalling distribution of economic and political resources to the population. A realist security agenda is pursued through the timing and manner in which policy is implemented, including the violence that is overlooked in order for liberalisation to proceed despite its limitations.