Dead and Buried or Just Underground? The Privatization of the State in Zaire

Abstract

If the current situation in Zaire is as disastrous as described by the contributors to this round table1 (and I tend to agree that it is), then why and how does the state manage to survive? Crawford Young points out that deterioration in competence and probity in the state have led to its loss of credibility in the eyes of most, if not all, Zairians. And yet one of the roles the state does continue to perform (as Young recognizes) is to serve as an instrument for the privatization of societal resources by the state bourgeoisie.