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Persistent URL of this record https://hdl.handle.net/1887/3769540

Documents

    • Research master thesis
    • under embargo until 2024-12-28

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De Baere, Sofie (2024)

Evacuated to the postcolonial world: The migration and reintegration experiences of the Anciens du Congo (1959-2024)

Research master thesis | History (research) (MA)
This thesis examines how Belgians who fled the Congo in the wake of the Congolese independence (1960) experienced their return migration and reintegration into Belgian society. Long ignored in public and academic debates, the narratives of postcolonial returnees provide insight into the demographic consequences of the end of empires on the one hand, and the effects of whiteness on migrant trajectories on the other hand. Through a unique combination of oral history, visual analysis, and media analysis, this thesis explores how returnees shaped their memories of colonial life and decolonization. It also examines how this narrative differs from the contemporary media and government narrative on the Anciens du Congo.
Decolonization
migration
oral history
Belgian Congo
Author
De Baere, Sofie
Faculty
Faculty of Humanities
Specialisation
Cities, Migration, and Global Interdependence
Supervisors
Schrover, M.L.J.C.
ECTS Credits
30
Language
en