Addressing the Wrong Peace? The politics of land conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo

自1960年脱离比利时独立以来，刚果民主共和国一直是世界上受冲突影响最严重的国家之一。虽然该国的暴力起因多种多样，但人们普遍认为，土地问题在冲突中起着主导作用，既是冲突的“源头”，也是冲突的“资源”。历史上，由于若干因素之间的复杂关系，土地一直是冲突的根源，其中包括但不限于以下事实：公民身份和财产权在历史上一直与族裔相一致，并被政治行为者操纵以维持政治权力的庇护制度；由于持续的冲突、邻国的冲突以及生产部门向采矿业的转移，该国遭受着高水平的大规模流离失所；土地保有权制度和权利不明确、任意、不一致和有争议；关于土地的信息和数据要么难以获取，要么根本不存在；几乎没有机会利用有效或可靠的司法机制来管理土地问题。因此，了解土地问题是解决刚果民主共和国冲突起因和后果的根本步骤。然而，尽管土地与冲突之间有明确的联系，但在刚果民主共和国关于和平与冲突的文献、政策和实践中，土地问题相对较少。值得注意的是，对于在刚果民主共和国从事冲突和暴力问题的任何人来说，都不可能忽视土地、族裔认同和公民身份的深刻政治历史是如何影响政治关系和冲突动态的。然而，在研究这一问题时，出现了一些关键问题：1)刚果民主共和国几乎不存在关于土地使用、土地权和土地保有权的数据和信息，2)国内和国际行为体为解决冲突问题所作的努力一直忽视土地问题。为何会是这样呢？研究与土地有关的冲突问题能为我们提供什么关于刚果民主共和国内部更广泛的冲突和政治动态的信息，这些冲突和政治动态限制了可持续和平的潜力？这个项目旨在了解参与者之间的政治关系是否以及如何(有意或无意地)促成刚果民主共和国土地冲突的永久化，以及土地冲突如何可能导致该国内部更广泛的冲突动态。围绕土地存在哪些类型的冲突？为什么这些冲突会持续下去？地方土地冲突与区域或国家一级的政治机构有何关系？通过定性案例研究和定量数据收集，该项目旨在回答这些问题，并就刚果民主共和国高度研究不足的土地冲突专题提供可靠的数据。

Since achieving its independence from Belgium in 1960, the Democratic Republic of Congo has remained one of the most conflict-affected countries in the world. Though the causes of violence in the country are diverse, it is widely acknowledged that issues of land play a dominant role in conflict, both as a 'source' and as a 'resource' of conflict. Land has historically been a source of conflict due to the complex relationship between a number of factors, including but not limited to the fact that: citizenship and property rights have historically been aligned with ethnicity and manipulated by political actors to maintain systems of patronage for political power; the country suffers from high levels of mass displacement due to ongoing conflict, neighbouring conflicts and shifts in the productive sectors towards the mining industry; land tenure systems and rights are unclear, arbitrary, inconsistent and contested; information and data on land is either difficult to access or does not exist; and there is little access to effective or reliable justice mechanisms for managing issues around land. Understanding issues of land is thus a fundamental step towards addressing the causes and consequences of conflict in the DRC. However, despite clear linkages between land and conflict, issues of land have been relatively absent from literature, policy and practice regarding peace and conflict in the DRC. Notably, for anyone who has worked on issues of conflict and violence in the DRC, it is impossible to ignore how the deeply political history of land, ethnic identity and citizenship have impacted political relations and conflict dynamics. However, when looking into this issue, a number of key puzzles emerge: 1) data and information on land use, land rights and land tenure is virtually non-existent for the DRC, and 2) efforts by both domestic and international actors to address issues of conflict have consistently neglected issues of land. Why is this the case? And what can looking into issues of land-related conflict tell us about broader conflict and political dynamics within the DRC that limit the potential for sustainable peace?This project aims to understand if and how the political relationships between actors might be contributing (intentionally or unintentionally) towards the perpetuation of land conflict dynamics in the DRC, and how land conflict may contribute to broader conflict dynamics within the country. What are the kinds of conflicts that exist over land and why do these persist? How do local land conflicts relate to regional or national level political institutions? Through qualitative case study research and quantitative data collection, this project aims to answer these questions and produce robust data on the highly under researched topic of land conflict in the DRC.