Ethnic based solidarity systems facilitated the integration of rural migrants into the intricacies of «modem» urban life throughout much of Africa. Now that these cities have become increasingly ungoverned and ungovernable, new forms of solidarity systems have emerged. The multiform crisis in Kinshasa, sub-Saharan Africa's second largest city, is as legendary as the survival strategies invented by the Congo capital's residents. These systems, historically complex, are increasingly characterised by pragmatism. Despite the marked rise of individualism needed to «fend for oneself», without recourse to solidarity networks, the situation of Kinois would be even more precarious than it is today. This article documents these dynamic forms of social organisation, their origins and evolution and the local and international political context that has contributed to their perpetual re-invention.