Résumés
Abstract
Like other cities around the globe where the state organizes exams, Kinshasa’s exétat shows the degree to which social difference and urban livelihood are intimately connected. However, despite the assumption that diplômés master book knowledge, recent changes in the practice of the exétat have transformed the meaning of a diplômé, turning that figure into a yankee, i.e., someone who possesses street knowledge that comes from experience with the informal and the illegal. More abstractly, the identity of a diplômé has become a signifier for the opposite of its taken-for-granted signified. Kinois society publicly acclaims the social and cultural capital attached to school degrees; however, most recent diplômés have obtained their degree through bribes and organized cheating.
Keywords:
- Diplômé,
- Kinshasa,
- social stratification,
- social distinction,
- urban lifeways
Résumé
Comme dans toutes les villes où le baccalauréat (ou son équivalent) est organisé par l’État, à Kinshasa la distinction sociale et les modalités de la vie urbaine sont intimement connectées. Néanmoins, malgré l’idée selon laquelle les diplômés maîtrisent des connaissances livresques, des changements récents dans la pratique de l’examen d’État à Kinshasa ont transformé la valeur sociale du diplômé. Aujourd’hui, un diplômé est plutôt considéré comme un « yankee », soit quelqu’un qui a fait l’école de la rue, qui se débrouille dans l’économie informelle et parfois aussi criminelle. Ainsi, l’étiquette de diplômé est devenue un signifiant inverse du signifié habituel. La société kinoise acclame publiquement le capital social et culturel associé au diplôme d’État ; toutefois, la plupart des diplômés récents ont réussi grâce à la fraude et à la tricherie organisée.
Mots-clés :
- Diplômé,
- Kinshasa,
- stratification sociale,
- distinction sociale,
- modes de vie urbains
Parties annexes
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