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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Power elites, war and postwar reconstruction in Africa: continuities, discontinuities and paradoxes
Author:Ismail, OlawaleISNI
Year:2008
Periodical:Journal of Contemporary African Studies
Volume:26
Issue:3
Pages:259-278
Language:English
Geographic terms:Africa
Liberia
Subjects:political elite
civil wars
peacebuilding
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02589000802332457
Abstract:This article interrogates the manner in which the composition, character, regeneration, and accumulation strategies of power elites and the organization of their hegemony is being affected or unaffected by recent developments, most especially, civil wars and their corollary, postwar reconstruction, in Africa. By seeking to understand how conflicts and postconflict reconstruction alter or transform the character, recruitment and role of power elites, and the operational context (the nature of the State) in Africa, the article draws attention to the prospects of transforming the nature of leadership in Africa. The author contends that the capacity for violence and terror by individuals (especially young combatants who were previously marginalized) and armed groups has become a new marker of elitism and a leverage on peace agreements. Moreover, post-Cold War conflicts in Africa have accentuated the emergence of war-making power elites as 'executors' and 'trustees' of peace treaties, or 'peace celebrities' with considerable leverage on the course and outcomes of postwar reconstruction. The instability in post-1989 Liberia is used as a case study to reflect this claim. The author also cites examples of members and leaders of armed groups in countries such as Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo where the capacity for violence translated into political rewards and gains in peace agreements. Bibliogr., note, sum. [Journal abstract]
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