Protection as a spectrum: The different faces of protection in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

The literature on civilian protective agency has paid scant attention to forms of protection that are provided according to private logics, in particular, protection as a commodity or protection as part of relations of patronage. Yet in war-affected eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, as this chapter shows, soliciting private forms of protection constitutes a crucial way in which civilians try to shield themselves against physical, political, economic, and social insecurity. In eastern DRC, protection as a public good, protection as a commodity, and protection in the framework of individual and collective patronage are entangled in complex ways, and can be provided, even simultaneously, by the same armed actors. Moreover, the boundaries between these different forms of protection are porous and shifting, implying protection can best be conceptualized as located on a spectrum between more public and more private, more voluntary and more coerced forms. Identifying where on the spectrum protection is located is useful for better understanding civilian agency, including the degree and types of coercion civilians face from armed actors. In addition, a more nuanced conceptualization of protection helps draw attention to civilians’ time horizon, specifically whether they seek to avert immediate danger or try to ensure protection in the long term. Finally, it enables a better understanding of the longer-term effects of protection on social orders. In the case of eastern DRC, the effects of protection informed by private logics are mostly negative and include the militarization of dispute settlement and the erosion of trust in the state security services.