Through a deep-dive into the city of Kinshasa, this book offers a close-up look at the idea that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a predatory state where political elites enrich themselves at the expense of the state, civil servants fend for themselves in the absence of a state salary, and citizens organise themselves in the absence of effective governance.

Here Kristof Titeca focuses in turn on public transport, the police, businessmen and markets, the history of urban planning for the city, football, bars, and sexuality. In each case, he analyzes how predation takes place, as well as how it is resisted. Combining the literature on urban governance, corruption/predation, and political settlements, this books offers an original look at how predation and corruption operate in practice at the city-level.