ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes what can be termed ‘opposition populism’ in the Global South. It is different from what has appeared recently in several Western democracies and originates in all-embracing polities based in exclusionary practices. This piece deals with the local and specific context of the DR Congo, focusing on the populist trope as it manifests in the politics practised by Tshisekedi’s followers and represented in literary fiction – which reflects the nation’s preoccupations. My analysis focuses on the speeches collected at combattants’ gatherings and the populist claims articulated in two novels: Fiston Mwanza Mujila’s Tram 83 and In Koli Jean Bofane’s Congo Inc.: Bismarck’s Testament. Populism from below, or opposition populism, unless properly conducted, may threaten a community with destruction. Its results depend on the way the process is facilitated, allowed to mature, and how it operates in the life of all people, not only of the participants. It potentially harbours, I conclude, the seeds of both self-destruction and collective destruction.
