This thesis explores the history of Kongolo, a territory in northern Katanga. It borrows from a method used particularly in Zimbabwean and Kenyan studies, namely the local study. Combining life histories with a range of archival sources, the dissertation offers a situated history of the local state in Congo. Specifically, it examines how Belgian colonialisms were received by African communities from the inception of the Congo Free State (CFS) in 1885 until the end of the Belgian Congo in 1960. It analyses the encounter of big business, missions and the state with local religious and political institutions, deconstructing many of the gross assertions made about Belgian imperialism in the wider literature. In particular, the dissertation dispels the pervasive illusion of the almighty Bula Matari state. Bula Matari is a Kikongo phrase meaning ‘breaker of rocks’ and was first used by Africans to describe the activities of the explorer Henry Stanley in 1879. Henceforth, Belgian administrators appropriated the label to project the idea that their rule was both powerful and consistent over space and time. The misconception of the Bula Matari state was later used by political scientists to explain why the withdrawal of formal colonialism from the Congo was such a tumultuous affair. It has been argued that the turmoil that swept through the Congo after 1960 was caused by the shock of total colonialism’ being replaced by ‘total independence.’ But this thesis suggests there was never any such thing as total colonialism in the Belgian Congo. Instead, different African social categories and communities had different relationships with the European administration and, in the early 1960s, some fought to preserve their gains while others battled to end the last vestiges of colonialism.

Cette thèse porte sur l'implantation missionnaire en République démocratique du Congo sous l'administration coloniale belge vers la fin du XIXe siècle. Nous voulons comprendre le phénomène observé de la dépendance financière de cette Église, en situant ses différentes causes ou facteurs exogènes et endogènes notamment son ancrage dans la politique coloniale. Dès le début, elle a bénéficié des subventions de l’État et d'autres avantages importants, dont de vastes étendues de terres. Depuis sa prise en main par la hiérarchie autochtone, période correspondant à la décolonisation, cette Église n'arrive pas à se prendre en charge, obligée de se tourner constamment vers l'extérieur (tes organismes occidentaux de financement) pour assurer ses différents besoins. Or cette politique d'extraversion financière ne rassure plus, vu le contexte socioculturel occidental actuel (diminution des pratiques religieuses, crises financières mondiales, ...). En définitive, il faut à cette Église congolaise longtemps habituée à l'assistance de repenser une nouvelle logique d'action lui permettant de trouver d'autres possibilités pour assurer son autofinancement en vue de sa survie. L'objectif de ce travail est de montrer que des potentialités existent qu'elle peut exploiter: la mobilisation et la gestion rationnelle des ressources humaines et économiques disponibles, la rentabilisation des structures de productions héritées des missionnaires, mais en comptant sur un environnement sociopolitique et économique national favorable et un changement des mentalités des acteurs en présence. / This thesis focuses the missionary presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo under the Belgian rule towards the end of the Sixth Century. We seek to understand bow this Church came to be financially dependent by looking at the different causes or exogenous and endogenous as well as the roots of this phenomenon within the context of the colonial policy. From the beginning, it has received State subsidies and enjoyed other significant advantages including large tracts of land. Ever since the native hierarchy has taken over, i.e. as from the decolonization, this Church has been unable to support itself and has been obliged constantly seek external aid from western financial bodies in order to meet its needs. But in the light of the current western sociocultural context (decline of religious practices, financial crises worldwide ... ) such a financial extraversion is no longer comforting. Ali things considered, long accustomed as it was to be assisted, this Congolese Church now needs to develop a new course of action through which it will be able to find other means of self-support for its survival. The objective of this work is to show that there is potential at band, namely the mobilization and the rational management of the human and economic resources available, the cost-effectiveness of the production facilities inherited from the missionaries, but resting on a favourable national sociopolitical and economic environment and a change in the attitude of the parties involved.