Understanding the current civil war in the Congo requires an examination of how the Congo's identity has been imagined over time. Imagining the Congo historicizes and contextualizes the constructions of the Congo's identity in order to analyze the political implications of that identity, looking in detail at four historical periods in which the identity of the Congo was contested, with numerous forces attempting to produce and attach meanings to its territory and people. Dunn looks specifically at how what he calls 'imaginings' of the Congo have allowed the current state of affairs there to develop, but he also looks at the broader conceptual question of how the concept of identity has developed and become important in recent international relations scholarship.

'This is an important and engaging book. Kevin Dunn has combined a sophisticated discussion of the dominant representations of the 'Congo' with careful attention to wider 'international' trends as well as processes on the ground in Africa...I can find very little to disagree with in this book.' - Mark T. Berger, European Journal of Development

KEVIN DUNN is Assistant Professor, Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He is the co-editor of Africa's Challenge to International Relations Theory (Palgrave 2001).