In a rare but urgent publication on the situation of higher education in the DRC, which is an important contribution to the study of political sociology in the DRC, six Congolese lecturers/researchers consider the topics of academic freedom and the social responsibilities of universities in the country. The authors aim to elucidate the trajectory of higher education in the DRC from its origins until today. Particular attention is paid to the ethnicisation of academic freedoms, the politicisation and 'role' of the University under the Mobutu regime, and the negative consequences these have entailed. Finally the authors address the degeneration and near extinction of any kind of professional body at the University of Kinshasa, calling for urgent redress. In French.