The Lumumba Generation

How and why did the Congolese elite turn from loyal intermediaries into opponents of the colonial state? This book seeks to enrich our understanding of the political and cultural processes culminating in the tumultuous decolonization of the Belgian Congo. Focusing on the making of an African bourgeoisie, the book illuminates the so-called évolués’ social worlds, cultural self-representations, daily life and political struggles.

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Daniel Tödt, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Deutschland.

"Tödt's book is a groundbreaking dissertation: expertly researched, finely crafted and an absolute pleasure to read!"

From the laudation of the Geisteswissenschaften International Prize for an outstanding work in the humanities

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"Insgesamt ist Daniel Tödts Werk ein äußerst wichtiger Beitrag zur Geschichte des belgisch-kongolesischen Kolonialismus. Aufgrund der gelungenen Verbindung politischer Entwicklungen in Belgien und im Kongo ist The Lumumba Generation ein wertvoller Beitrag zum (post-)kolonialen Erbe im damaligen Kongo ebenso wie zu dessen Unabhängigkeitsgeschichte." – Diana M. Natermann (Hamburg), in Historische Zeitschrift 318 (2024), 230–231

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"While offering a deep historical understanding about the ways the Congolese elite acquired an intimate knowledge of Belgian colonialism and made use of it, The Lumumba Generation thus will also help us to rethink how subtle and multiple rebellions were linked to each other in the last years of the Belgian Congo." – Charlotte Grabli (UCLA History Department, USA), in The Journal of African History 65 (2024) 1, 1–3, DOI:10.1017/S0021853723000701

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"The book offers a preceptive analysis of the logic of late colonial ideology, but it also punctuates it with critical counterpoints that draw from oral interviews, private papers, and close readings of administrative archives to problematize Congolese perspectives and subjectivities." – Pedro Monaville (McGill University, USA), in The Global Sixties 16 (2023) 2, 135–161, DOI: 10.1080/27708888.2023.2267308

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"This important book not only offers a sophisticated portrait of Belgian colonialism and the Congo in the twentieth century; it also provides a masterclass in social and cultural history and how they can be brought together to make sense of status identities. Tödt makes a significant contribution to global historical sociology from an African historical perspective." – Richard Drayton (King’s College London, London, UK) in Africa 92 (2022), 283–293

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"Tödt’s work offers significant contributions to the historiography of colonialism in Congo. He deftly ties together changing policies in Africa and Belgium. This engagement with a broader literature on the formation of middle-class identities is a badly needed contribution to the scholarship on the Congo. The Lumumba Generation is a valuable addition to the history of colonialism in the Congo and the transition to independence." – Jeremy Rich (Marywood University, Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA) in African Studies Review (2022), 1–3

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"Tödt’s book convincingly champions global historical analyses that are about the undeniable reach of debates rooted in a particular place, rather than about the physical mobility of actors." – Ismay Milford (Research Centre Global Dynamics, Leipzig Universitäty) in Connections. A Journal for Historians and Area Specialists (16.09.2022), www.connections.clio-online.net/publicationreview/id/reb-114541

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"All-in-all, this book is a valuable addition to our knowledge of colonization and the establishment of elites that has inevitably accompanied it, and of how these processes set the scene for the future of postcolonial African life. The insights it provides into the nuances and paradoxes of the colonial encounter show us that debates on ‘decolonisation’ must proceed with care and caution." – Deborah James (The London School of Economic and Political Science) in Historische Anthropologie 30 (2022) 3, 407–409

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"Il paraît évident que cet ouvrage est destiné à faire référence pour les chercheurs en études littéraires désireux de comprende le fonctionnement de la production culturelle coloniale et postcoloniale en Afrique et au-delà." – Kusum Aggarwal in Études littéraires africaines 56 (2023), 211–213