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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Development and administrative norms: the Office du Niger and decentralization in French Sudan and Mali
Author:Diawara, MamadouISNI
Year:2011
Periodical:Africa: Journal of the International African Institute (ISSN 0001-9720)
Volume:81
Issue:3
Pages:434-454
Language:English
Geographic term:Mali
Subjects:decentralization
development corporations
colonial policy
government policy
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/41484997
Abstract:This article analyses the historical roots of decentralization, a policy which is presented in the development world as the miracle cure to Third World evils. The text is based on the current literature on the topic as well as field research carried out in Mali in the Office du Niger region, which, already in the colonial period, represented a particular decentralization challenge. It offers a critical perspective on the concept of decentralization, which some trace back to the Middle Ages, and examines colonial experiences. How can the Malian State, inherited from the colonial State, decentralize everything whilst adopting the policy according to which the lands of the central delta of the Niger have been State-owned property since 1935? The aim is to show the analogy between problems encountered by the French colonial State and those that plague the Malian postcolonial State, whilst guarding against the sirens of a false authenticity reeking of neotraditionalism. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract]
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