Constructing the border from below: Narratives from the Congolese–Rwandan state boundary

This article is about the simultaneous subversion and perpetuation of political borders ‘from below’. Using the state boundary between the cities of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gisenyi in Rwanda as a case study, this article shows how people make sense of their border-related social world. By analyzing everyday narratives and practices of people who live on both sides of the border, this article reveals popular geopolitics at work and demonstrates the inchoate character surrounding the idea of ‘the border’. Border talk is examined in key narratives and narrative clusters to emphasize the primacy of certain thematic plots and to reveal which aspects of the border people prioritize and how they attribute meaning to the idea of the border. Views of the border ranging from a desired barrier against the demonized ‘other,’ and as a means of exclusion, to its conception as an institution that may be in need of reform but is essential to economic survival, make clear that approaching the border through narratives means allowing for its historicity and relationality. Border narratives and practices reveal some neglected aspects of violent conflict in the study region and provide insights into state–society relations, an understanding of the state’s legitimacy, and an understanding of the effects of the border as a social construction that influences everyday life.

► Mobile data gathering reveals contradictory and conflicting meanings of borders.
► Micro-narratives demonstrate historicity, relationality and contrariness of borders.
► Borders are simultaneously subverted and perpetuated from below.
► Trade of ‘conflict minerals’ is not the only diver for conflict in Congo.