L'« élu » et le « kipanda cha Muzungu » (« morceau de Blanc »). Quête de réussite et parcours identitaires des Italiens au Congo belge

The “Elected” and the “kipanda cha Muzungu” (“Piece of the White Man”). The Search for Affirmation and the Construction of Identity among Italians in the Belgian Congo. — European immigration to the Belgian Congo can be traced back to the first decades of the Twentieth century, when members of the petty bourgeoisie and of the working classes began to move there urged by their desire for monetary gains and adventure. The numerous opportunities to work in the Katanga mining region attracted many Belgians, Italians, Greeks, Portuguese, and also English, Americans and Germans. A smaller number of migrants belonging to the more affluent classes settled in the Kivu region, where plantations abounded. The structural workings and characteristics of Belgian colonialism deeply affected European settlement in Congo. The colonial rule was the expression of the dominant power exerted by a State/great companies/mission complex which was against immigration and social mobility. European communities in colonial society lived in a condition of marginality which led them to play a specific role in this society. However, historiography has long ignored the conditions and role of these communities in the colonial period.