Statism Debunked: Analysis of Self-aid Groups as Vehicle of Rural Development

Raphael Okitafumba Lokola

Published on: 2024-03-29

Abstract

The protagonists of statism have long held up the State as the sole guarantor of public order and the integral development. Experience has shown, however, that such a conception of things is neither defendable nor viable. Without suggesting the canonization of the opposite of statism – anarchism – this article draws inspiration from the experience of self-aid groups in rural Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in central Africa to argue that integral development/flourishing is possible even in the absence of the State. I develop my analysis in three steps. First, I describe two creative initiatives that have improved the lives of the Sankuru rural population in central DRC. Second, I consider the basis for the “life-sustaining” activities. Lastly, I note some critical implications of these initiatives for the social and economic development of a local population.