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Sign upPodcast: 'In Chains' Episode 3
In the third episode of our new themed series In Chains, we speak with Dr. Alexis Aronowitz from University College Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands, who is the author of the article, “Regulating business involvement in labor exploitation and human trafficking” published in Journal of Labor and Society.
Brill Publishes Two New Book Series in the Social Sciences
Brill is pleased to announce the addition of two new peer-reviewed book series to its Social Sciences publishing program: International Studies in Maritime Sociology and Studies in Political Economy of Global Labor and Work. The series will be published online and in print.
Brill adds Two New Journals to Its Social Sciences Publishing Program
Two journals, the Journal of Labor and Society (JLSO) and Protest, have been added to Brill’s expanding publishing program in the Social Sciences. Both journals will be published online and in print. Previous volumes of JLSO are already available on Brill’s website, the first issues of Protest are planned for publication in 2021.
The various political factions represented in the power-sharing government, inaugurated in June 2003, preserved an uneasy coexistence. The prospect of holding elections in June 2005, scheduled to end the transition period, appeared increasingly remote by year's end. None of the political challenges facing the country was even close to being met, including the disarmament and reintegration of combatants, the creation of a new integrated national army and the drawing up of legislation essential to an orderly wrapping-up of the transition. The transition from war to peace in the country tottered on the verge of collapse throughout the year due to renewed clashes in the country's Kivu provinces, the massacre of Banyamulenge refugees in Burundi, the (temporary) withdrawal of Vice-President Ruberwa from the transitional government, the continued presence of Rwandan Hutu rebels in Eastern Congo and the repeated threats of a new military intervention by Rwanda.
Given the poor performance of the transitional government, the political situation in the DR Congo remained tense and precarious throughout the year. Due to a mixture of unwillingness and incapacity, the government failed to tackle the tough challenges that were critical for the successful conclusion of the transitional period. As a result, Congo's peace process remained far from assured. Amid popular protests, the post-conflict elections scheduled for 2005 were deferred to 2006.
The long-awaited presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections, the first democratic polls in over four decades, were the main focus of attention for both domestic and foreign actors. Against many odds, the elections took place in a fairly peaceful and orderly manner. As had been widely expected, incumbent Joseph Kabila was elected as the head of state. Although the electoral process was an extremely remarkable achievement, its completion did not alter the fact that the war-ravaged country continued to face enormous challenges in terms of peace-building, security and socioeconomic recovery.
Following last year's elections, a democratic government under the leadership of Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga was formed. Lacking coherence and vision, the unwieldy government remained paralysed and failed to take steps to consolidate the hard-won progress in the DR Congo over the preceding two years. The year was characterised by two major setbacks: first, the heavy fighting in the capital of Kinshasa in March between troops loyal to President Joseph Kabila and the guards of former Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba. In the wake of the Kinshasa battle, Bemba fled into exile. The second setback was the resurgence of war in eastern Congo's North Kivu province between the government army and the armed group of former rebel commander Laurent Nkunda. It ended in a humiliating defeat for the army and the displacement of 400,000 civilians in North Kivu.
The year was dominated by the escalation in North Kivu of violence between the rebel army of Laurent Nkunda and a disintegrating national army. The fighting, which sparked a huge humanitarian emergency, was the continuation of an armed conflict that had persisted on and off since the end of the 2006 election cycle. It dashed the hopes for a peaceful resolution of the conflicts in the Kivu provinces that had stirred in January, when a major peace conference took place in Goma. Shortly before the renewed fighting erupted, Prime Minister Gizenga handed in his resignation in September. He was replaced by Minister of Budget Adolphe Muzito. The little progress that had been made to jump-start the economy was wiped out when the effects of the global financial crisis took their toll on Congo's mining sector.
Celebrating his third year in office after his election victory in 2006, President Joseph Kabila had few achievements to show as peace and reconstruction made slow progress at best. However, political events were dominated by a breath-taking turnaround in relations between Rwanda and Congo, which held the promise of bringing some form of peace to eastern Congo. The rebel movement ‘Conseil National pour la Défense du Peuple’ (CNDP) struck a deal with the government after its chairman had been ousted. In a closely related development, Kinshasa invited the Rwandan army back to Congo to join the fight against the Rwandan rebels of the ‘Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Rwanda’ (FDLR).