{"id":8418,"date":"2026-04-13T10:08:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T14:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/iis\/?p=8418"},"modified":"2026-04-13T10:35:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T14:35:55","slug":"rethinking-resource-extraction-violence-and-peacekeeping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/iis\/2026\/rethinking-resource-extraction-violence-and-peacekeeping\/","title":{"rendered":"How Dr. Evelyn Namakula Mayanja Is Rethinking Resource Extraction, Violence, and Peacekeeping"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u2014one that Dr. Evelyn Namakula Mayanja<\/strong> is working to uncover.<\/p>\n

An interdisciplinary scholar, Dr. Mayanja\u2019s 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\u2014rather than fostering development\u2014has contributed to prolonged violence, environmental destruction, and humanitarian crisis in the DRC.<\/p>\n

The country is rich in critical resources such as copper, lithium, and cobalt\u2014essential for green energy technologies like electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines\u2014as well as gold, diamonds, and other valuable minerals. Yet this abundance has come at an extraordinary cost.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Witnessing these realities firsthand is what drew her to this field of study.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how people are going to survive in the next 10 years,\u201d she says. \u201cThe environment on which their livelihood depends has been destroyed beyond recognition, and communities have been displaced.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cViolence has been used to access Congo\u2019s resources,\u201d she explains. \u201cThere are also issues of misgovernance, but this continues the manipulation of Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cHow can they be interested in both peace and exploiting resources at the same time?\u201d she asks. \u201cThere is an incongruency between them. Even the word is a misnomer\u2014how can you say they are keeping peace where it does not exist?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Rather than relying solely on external interventions, Dr. Mayanja emphasizes the importance of locally grounded approaches to peacebuilding.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe need Afrocentric peacebuilding, peace-making, and resource governance,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

At the same time, she underscores the responsibility of international actors\u2014particularly 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many different ways of collecting and transmitting knowledge,\u201d she notes. \u201cAfrocentric approaches such as music, theatre, and dance can be more appropriate in some contexts.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt would be so impactful to bring people from these communities here to share their stories,\u201d she says. \u201cBecause it is not all about violence. It is not all about resources. We are humans too. We have stories to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dr. Mayanja\u2019s work challenges us to think more critically about the global systems we are part of\u2014and to recognize the human stories at the heart of them.<\/p>\n

\n

Read the full FASS Research Review (Page 14):<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2014one that Dr. Evelyn Namakula Mayanja is working to uncover. An interdisciplinary scholar, Dr. Mayanja\u2019s research examines the intersections […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26,103],"yoast_head":"\nHow Dr. Evelyn Namakula Mayanja Is Rethinking Resource Extraction, Violence, and Peacekeeping - The Institute of 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