History and Agricultural and Forest Economy

Theodore Trefon heads the Contemporary History Section of the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren Belgium. He is also visiting professor in the CADES programme of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and at ERAIFT “Ecole Régionale post-universitaire d’Aménagement et de gestion Intégrés des Forêts et Territoires tropicaux” (University of Kinshasa).

A DRCongo area specialist, his research interests focus on state-society relations, forest-city links, urban anthropology and environmental governance. After completing his Ph.D. in Political Science at Boston University, Dr Trefon has worked on European Union-funded projects and was an advisor to the USAID Central African Program for the Environment. He has served as a consultant to CIFOR, UNESCO, CARE and the World Bank.

His bibliography includes the following volumes:

Books:

• Trefon, T. with B. Ngoy (forthcoming 2007) Parcours administratifs dans un Etat en faillite : Récits de Lubumbashi (RDC).
• Trefon, Th., Reinventing Order in the Congo. How People respond to State Failure in Kinshasa, London, Zed Book, 2004. (pdf - 449 kb)
• Trefon, Th., Ordre et désordre à Kinshasa. Réponses populaires à la faillite de l’Etat, Tervuren/Paris, Musée royal de l’Afrique centrale/L’Harmattan, 2004, Cahiers africains n° 61-62.
• Trefon, T. (1989) French Policy Toward Zaïre during the Giscard d’Estaing Presidency. Brussels: CEDAF, 135 pp.

Edited peer review journals:

• Trefon, Th. & Petit, P., « Expériences de recherche en République démocratique du Congo. Méthodes et contextes », Civilisations, vol. LIV, n° 1-2, 2006. (pdf - 310 kb)
  Introduction  par P. Petit et Th. Trefon. (pdf - 560 kb)
• Trefon, Th., “Industrial logging in the Congo: Is a Stakeholder Approach Possible?”, South African Journal of International Affairs, volume 13, Issue 2, Winter/Spring 2006, pp. 101-115. (pdf - 87 kb)
• Van Hoyweghen, S., Trefon, Th. & Smis S. (eds), “State Failure in the Congo: Perceptions & Realities. Le Congo entre crise et régénération”, Review of African Political Economy, n° 93-94, 2002.