Cities really matter. Urban Studies as a developing discipline is fascinating. So we are choosing this very interesting read as December’s book of the month.

Suturing the City: Living Together in Congo’s Urban Worlds is an interdisciplinary title by anthropologist Filip De Boeck and photographer Sammy Baloji. It focuses on the urban now, ‘a moment suspended between lingering precolonial references, the broken dreams of a colonial past, and the not yet realised promises of neoliberal futures.’ 

Providing both a ethnographic and photographic investigation about what it means to be living together in Congo’s urban sites, De Boeck and Baloji take the reader on a tour of these urban worlds, including the sites at Kinshasa and beyond.

According to LSE’s Kate Dawson, the book is ‘an important reference for anyone interested in urban life’. Check out her full book review here.

Photo-credit: Sammy Baloji