Between formal law and urban customary regulation: mechanisms of socio-economic crisis management in Kinshasa's popular theater — the case of La vie est belle

Abstract

This study analyzes the mechanisms of social regulation and conflict resolution through the prism of popular theater in Kinshasa, anchoring its analysis in the iconic work "La Vie est belle". Operating at the intersection of textual semiotics, legal sociology, and reception analysis, this research examines how a precarious urban fabric secretes an autonomous normative order in response to the structural deficiencies of state-sanctioned positive law.

First, the results reveal a mapping of micro-conflicts deeply rooted in the materiality of daily survival, where the commercial shift of the dowry becomes a barrier of exclusion for young people. Faced with the inaccessibility of official institutions, subaltern groups deploy a "diplomacy of cunning" as a functional substitute for alternative dispute resolution (ADR). This infrapolitical resistance operates through three pillars: customary arbitration reinvented by neighborhood elders ("Les Vieux"), the subversive rhetoric of public derision (Lelo), and the horizontal solidarity found within informal street trades.

Finally, the analysis of textual reception establishes the theatrical arena as an oppositional public sphere. The Kinshasa audience acts as a jury in a permanent popular court that validates the ethics of "Article 15". By favoring an outcome based on restorative justice and the flattening of dominant power dynamics, the performance produces, disseminates, and legitimizes a shared plebeian jurisprudence. This research demonstrates the central role of artistic performance in codifying "living law" and preserving social cohesion within a postcolonial African context.