From smartphones to electric vehicles, many of the technologies shaping modern life depend on minerals sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). But behind this global supply chain lies a far more complex and troubling reality鈥攐ne that Dr. Evelyn Namakula Mayanja is working to uncover.
An interdisciplinary scholar, Dr. Mayanja鈥檚 research examines the intersections of resource extraction, conflict, and global peacekeeping, with a particular focus on African contexts. Her work sheds light on how mineral wealth鈥攔ather than fostering development鈥攈as contributed to prolonged violence, environmental destruction, and humanitarian crisis in the DRC.
The country is rich in critical resources such as copper, lithium, and cobalt鈥攅ssential for green energy technologies like electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines鈥攁s well as gold, diamonds, and other valuable minerals. Yet this abundance has come at an extraordinary cost.
Since the late 1990s, Congolese communities have faced sustained violence, displacement, and deep insecurity, as natural resources are extracted to meet global demand. Dr. Mayanja鈥檚 research highlights how multinational corporations and global economic systems are implicated in these dynamics, often profiting from both the minerals themselves and the conditions under which they are obtained.
Witnessing these realities firsthand is what drew her to this field of study.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how people are going to survive in the next 10 years,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he environment on which their livelihood depends has been destroyed beyond recognition, and communities have been displaced.鈥�
Through interviews and fieldwork in the DRC, Dr. Mayanja documents how extractive industries shape everyday life in affected communities. She situates this violence within a longer historical context, pointing to colonial patterns of exploitation that continue to influence the present.
鈥淰iolence has been used to access Congo鈥檚 resources,鈥� she explains. 鈥淭here are also issues of misgovernance, but this continues the manipulation of Africa.鈥�
Her research also critically examines the role of international peacekeeping missions in the region. While such missions are intended to stabilize conflict zones, Dr. Mayanja argues that their impact is often more complicated.
鈥淗ow can they be interested in both peace and exploiting resources at the same time?鈥� she asks. 鈥淭here is an incongruency between them. Even the word is a misnomer鈥攈ow can you say they are keeping peace where it does not exist?鈥�
Rather than relying solely on external interventions, Dr. Mayanja emphasizes the importance of locally grounded approaches to peacebuilding.
鈥淲e need Afrocentric peacebuilding, peace-making, and resource governance,鈥� she says.
At the same time, she underscores the responsibility of international actors鈥攑articularly in enforcing regulations on mining companies operating both in the DRC and abroad. Accountability, she argues, must extend beyond borders when environmental destruction and human rights violations occur.
Looking ahead, Dr. Mayanja advocates for more inclusive and decolonial approaches to research and knowledge-sharing. She calls for greater recognition of Indigenous and community-based knowledge systems, particularly in regions where such knowledge is at risk of being lost.
鈥淭here are so many different ways of collecting and transmitting knowledge,鈥� she notes. 鈥淎frocentric approaches such as music, theatre, and dance can be more appropriate in some contexts.鈥�
She also envisions universities as spaces where community voices can be heard more directly, and where lived experiences are treated as vital forms of knowledge.
鈥淚t would be so impactful to bring people from these communities here to share their stories,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ecause it is not all about violence. It is not all about resources. We are humans too. We have stories to tell.鈥�
Dr. Mayanja鈥檚 work challenges us to think more critically about the global systems we are part of鈥攁nd to recognize the human stories at the heart of them.