David Van Reybrouck

Vincent Viaene

Bambi Ceuppens

België schiep Congo, maar schiep Congo ook België? In hoeverre werd het 20ste-eeuwse België voor een stuk gevormd door zijn kolonie? Die vraag stelde de toonaangevende Congolese historicus Isidore Ndaywel enige jaren geleden. Deze interdisciplinaire bundel biedt een antwoord. Hij belicht de invloed van de kolonie op de Belgische cultuur en samenleving, van hoog tot laag. Want kolonialisme is geen eenrichtingsverkeer. In Tervuren, bij nationale optochten en in klaslokalen zie je hoe Congo België mee inkleurde. Maar ook in de politiek, de media en de kunsten. Het gaat evengoed om de nesteling van Congo in de massacultuur van missieverhalen en speelfilms, in de samenstelling van Belgische gezinnen of in de herinneringen van gewone mensen aan de voormalige kolonie. Het boek vormt zo een caleidoscoop van het verschil dat Congo en de Congolezen maakten in de Belgische geschiedenis.

koloniale cultuur in de metropool

Congo in België

Jan De Maeyer 

The attraction and repulsion between the Roman Catholic Church and modernity in Europe between 1750 and 2000 Emiel Lamberts (1941), professor emeritus of contemporary history at KU Leuven, is an international expert in the political and religious history of Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. His work and the central themes in his research are the starting point in World Views and Worldly Wisdom. No less than eighteen leading international researchers put different aspects of his work in the spotlight. A recurring theme, however, is the attraction and repulsion between the Roman Catholic Church and modernity in Europe between 1750 and 2000. The ambivalent relationship with modernity is therefore the leitmotiv of the first part of this volume, whereas the second part focuses on the repositioning of the Church and the tensions between religion, ideology and politics. In this way the volume reflects Lamberts’s fascination for the history of political institutions as well as his research on Christian democracy. The contributions address – in a comparative way and from a transatlantic viewpoint – this broad period of time in history, which gave rise to different social movements and different models of society in Belgium and elsewhere. Contributors Winfried Becker (Universität Passau), Bruno Béthouart (Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale), Hans Blom (Universiteit van Amsterdam), Alfredo Canavero (Università degli Studi di Milano), Philippe Chenaux (Pontificia Università Lateranense, Roma), Andrea Ciampani (LUMSA, Roma), Jo Deferme (KU Leuven), Jan De Maeyer (KADOC KU Leuven), Henk De Smaele (Universiteit Antwerpen), Carine Dujardin (KADOC KU Leuven), Jean-Dominique Durand (Université Lyon 3), Michael Gehler (Jean Monnet Chair, Universität Hildesheim - Institut für Neuzeit- und Zeitgeschichtsforschung, Wien), Susana Monreal (Universidad Católica del Uruguay), Patrick Pasture (KU Leuven), Patrick M.W. Taveirne (The Chinese University of Hong Kong), Peter Van Kemseke (Europese Commissie, KU Leuven), Vincent Viaene (Attaché bij het Huis van Koning Filip), Els Witte (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

Religion, Ideology and Politics, 1750–2000 · Religion, idéologie et politique, 1750–2000

World Views and Worldly Wisdom · Visions et expériences du monde

Jan De Maeyer

Bram Cleys

Religion in today’s Democratic Republic of Congo has many faces: from the overflowing seminaries and Marian shrines of the Catholic Church to the Islamic brotherhoods, from the healers of Kimban-guism to the televangelism of the booming Pentecostalist churches in the great cities, from the Orthodox communities of Kasai to the ‘invisible’ Mai Mai warriors in the brousse of Kivu. During the colonial period religion was no less central to people’s lives than it is today. More surprisingly, behind the seemingly smooth facade of missions linked closely to imperial power, faith and worship were already marked by diversity and dynamism, tying the Congo into broader African and global movements. The contributions in this book provide insight into the multifaceted history of the interaction between religion and colonization. The authors outline the institutional political framework, and focus on the challenge that old and new forms of slavery entailed for the missions. The atrocities committed at the time of the Congo Free State became an existential question for young Christian communities. In the Belgian Congo after 1908, more structural forms of colonial violence remained a key issue marking religious experiences. And yet, religion also acted as a bridge. The authors emphasize the role intermediaries such as catechists or medical assistants played in the African “appropriation” of Christianity. They examine the complex interaction with indigenous religious beliefs and practices, and zoom in on the part religions played in the independence movement, as well as on their reaction to independence itself. Coming at a moment when Belgium confronts its colonial past, this volume provides a timely reassessment of religion as a key factor.

Religion, Colonization and Decolonization in Congo, 1885-1960. Religion, colonisation et décolonisation au Congo, 1885-1960

The Roman orientation was the keystone of the religious revolution of the Catholic revival. New or renewed congregations, priests close to the people & militant laymen gave a decidedly social & activist turn to the faith. At this crossroad of religion & modernity, the papacy could all the more make its weight felt as the Belgian Constitution granted the clergy a unique liberty in relations with Rome. Over time, the Vatican would exert a powerful impact on the shape of modern politics in Belgium. The special relationship between Belgium & Rome was no one-way traffic. From a somewhat curious ecclesiastical court hopelessly entangled in the old spider web of the Papal States, the papacy became the institution we know today, the leader of a "modern" Catholic opinion. Belgium played a role of major importance in this transformation. The central theme of the book can therefore be defined as a process of mutual integration, if not acculturation, across the Alps.

Vincent Viaene

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