Menţinerea şi construcţia păcii ca vectori de exportare a normelor eurocentrice: statul weberian în Republica Democratică Congo
Transfer of eurocentric norms via peacekeeping and peacebuilding: the weberian state in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Summary/Abstract: MONUSCO’s predicament in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) highlights an inherent weakness not only in the UN conceptualisation of its “stabilisation” missions, but also in the general principles that govern its multidimensional peacekeeping operations. The aim of this article is to promote the idea that one such deficiency lies precisely in the transfer of Eurocentric (i.e. Western) norms, institutionalised via the vectors of peacekeeping and peacebuilding. Within the space of this article, we have chosen to analyse the idea of the Weberian state and how the attempt to superimpose it on non-European societies is often at odds with the social, political and economic interactions that define those territories. Former colonial states like the DRC suffer not only from a lack of organic statebuilding, but have also inherited heavy structural power imbalances, both at societal level and as victims of resource exploitation by the Global North, which delay their development and constitute active drivers of insecurity. As a result, peace operations such as MONUSCO are faced with limited opportunity to realistically impact or prevent the level of violence acutely harming Congolese communities.

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