BOOK REVIEW …

The abrupt end of colonial rule in the Congo marked a major turning point in the history of decolonization. Academic and popular discussion has blamed the brutality of the Congolese civil war in the 1960s in part on the unwillingness of Belgian authorities to formulate a plan to surrender authority to the Africans. The formation of a Congolese elite in the late colonial period certainly drew the attention of scholars in the 1960s, but relatively few have examined this topic in later decades. The Lumumba Generation by Daniel Tödt is a new consideration of the convoluted negotiations between Congolese seeking preferential treatment with Belgian officials by claiming to promote assimilation to European norms of behavior. Tödt skillfully draws together a wide range of secondary literature, particularly regarding the formation and negotiated definitions of belonging within a loosely constituted middle class. He also examines the interplay between class identity, the state, and the role of law in Belgium and the Congo. The formation of an elite in the Congo highlighted the contradictions of colonial rule. Especially after World War 2, Belgian authorities wanted to showcase a growing middle-class African community that was Christian, dressed and lived along European lines, and was still loyal to European domination. This group was overwhelmingly male, even as a few women did also manage to receive state confirmation of their assimilated status. Although officials mocked the alleged snobbishness of the bourgeois Congolese, they also tried to monitor middle-class Congolese behavior. Some of the most fascinating reading in The Lumumba Generation is the rich collection of details about everyday life documented by officials determined to set firm lines between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Administrators did not want this group to gain political power and push aside the Belgians. Self-identified members of this group of new bourgeoisie demanded more political rights for themselves on the grounds that they had met the vague criteria set out by colonial officials. Much as in other colonies,