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| Title: | Africa works: disorder as political instrument |
| Authors: | Chabal, Patrick Daloz, Jean-Pascal |
| Year: | 1999 |
| Pages: | 170 |
| Language: | English |
| Series: | African issues |
| City of publisher: | Oxford |
| Publisher: | James Currey |
| ISBN: | 0852558198; 0253212871; 0253335256; 0852558147 |
| Geographic term: | Africa |
| Subjects: | politics political stability |
| Abstract: | This study analyses the precarious condition of contemporary Africa, drawing on a wide range of disciplines and comparative material. The authors develop a paradigm for their analysis which they call the 'political instrumentalization of disorder'. This refers to the process by which political actors in Africa seek to maximize their returns on the state of confusion, uncertainty, and sometimes even chaos, which characterizes most African polities. The authors argue that all African States share a generalized system of patrimonialism and an acute degree of apparent disorder, as evidenced by a high level of governmental and administrative inefficiency, a lack of institutionalization, a general disregard for the rules of the formal political and economic sectors, and a universal resort to personal(ized) and vertical solutions to societal problems. The first part of the book deals with the trend towards the informalization of politics. The second part looks at politics from a cultural perspective, examining the extent to which the issue of identity, the domain of religious beliefs and the climate of violence impinge on society. The emphasis here is on how the dynamics of African modernization are compatible with the 're-traditionalization' of the continent. The third section reassesses economic issues, explains why corruption is the norm, and analyses how it is possible for Africans to enrich themselves whilst the continent is failing to develop. For a collection of reviews of this publication, see: Enkele boekbesprekingen rond P. Chabal en J.-P. Daloz (1999), Leiden, 2007, call number AFRIKA A10411. |
