The Belgian Congolese Relation. Reading the postcolonial malus

The integration of immigrants and their offspring is one of the major challenges facing Belgian society. Like other societies in the northern hemisphere, Belgian society is now characterised by ‘super-diversity’ (Vertovec 2007). In comparison with other OECD countries, Belgium seems to face particular difficulties with regards to the integration of its immigrants and their offspring in the fields of access to employment, private housing and education. Stemed from discriminatory practices (Economic and Social Council 2006) these problems constitute however the blind spot of the academy.
In this paper, I would like to consider the “postcolonial bonus” hypothesis (Oostindie, 2011) with regards to the Congolese community in Belgium. Belgian’s colonial migration history presents differences with regards to the British, French or Dutch configurations. Nowadays, three generations of Congolese Belgians make up a community that shows a paradoxical socioeconomic integration pattern, combining on average the highest level of education with the highest level of unemployment in Belgian society (Schoonvaere, X). Despite an intense involvment of Congolese Belgians in the academic, associative, political or artistic spheres, several variables point towards a particular post-colonial racialization process. The absence of a public debate on the colonial history of Belgium suggests a link between the marginalization of this group and the colonial legacy of the society that will be developped from a comprehensive sociology and ten years of immersion within the Congolese circles.