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Abstract
Though African party systems are said to be ethnic, there is little evidence for this claim. The few empirical studies rarely rely on individual data and are biased in favour of Anglophone Africa. This paper looks at four Francophone countries, drawing on representative survey polls. Results reveal that ethnicity matters, but that its impact is generally rather weak and differs with regard to party systems and individual parties. ‘Ethnic parties’ in the strict sense are virtually absent. In particular, the voters’ ...
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World Politics, Vol. 62, No. 1. (2010), pp. 87-119
Abstract
Much of the quantitative literature on civil wars and ethnic conflict ignores the role of the state or treats it as a mere arena for political competition among ethnic groups. other studies analyze how the state grants or withholds minority rights and faces ethnic protest and rebellion accordingly, while largely overlooking the ethnic power configurations at the state's center. drawing on a new data set on ethnic power relations (EPR) that identifies all politically relevant ethnic groups and their access to ...
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posted to decentralization
by tommymiles
on 2013-01-30 20:31:10
Abstract
Political decentralization is widely believed to reduce ethnic conflict and secessionism in the world today. Yet decentralization is more successful in reducing conflict and secessionism in some countries than in others. In this article, I explore why this difference occurs. I demonstrate using a statistical analysis of thirty democracies from 1985 to 2000 that decentralization may decrease ethnic conflict and secessionism directly by bringing the government closer to the people and increasing opportunities to participate in government, but that decentralization increases ...
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(12 April 2010)
posted to decentralization
by tommymiles
on 2013-01-30 20:16:39
Abstract
Publication Date: April 12, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0521736358 | ISBN-13: 978-0521736350 | Edition: 1 Is it always true that decentralization reforms put more power in the hands of governors and mayors? In postdevelopmental Latin America, the surprising answer to this question is no. In fact, a variety of outcomes are possible, depending largely on who initiates the reforms, how they are initiated, and in what order they are introduced. Tulia G. Falleti draws on extensive fieldwork, in-depth interviews, archival records, and quantitative ...
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Abstract
10.1177/0032329201029001006 ...
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(02 July 2007)
Abstract
Since the days of Montesquieu and Jefferson, political decentralization has been seen as a force for better government and economic performance. It is thought to bring government 'closer to the people', nurture civic virtue, protect liberty, exploit local information, stimulate policy innovation, and alleviate ethnic tensions. Inspired by such arguments, and generously funded by the major development agencies, countries across the globe have been racing to devolve power to local governments. This book re-examines the arguments that underlie the modern faith in decentralization. Using logical analysis and formal modeling, ...
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Abstract
Informal market institutions and small-scale traders are responsible for feeding Nigerian cities. This study analyses a range of economic relationships and institutions that have evolved in the context of inadequate formal institutions such as banks and legal contracts. Through examining both personal relationships and institutional based trust, the paper explores the role of moral norms. Trust is shown to be related to sanctions, information on other parties and a range of norms that are drawn on both calculatively and habitually. The ...
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Abstract
This article looks at four cases of youth‐led identity‐based social movements in Benin City and in the Annang area of southern Nigeria. It shows how each of these movements — youth associations, ‘area boys’, vigilantes and campus cults — draws on different, older repertoires of discourse and organization, and enters into relations with state authority that combine elements of complicity, insurgency, monitoring and disengagement. It argues that their activities, mobilized around resource control and community security, can be understood as a ...
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Abstract
This article examines the explosion of violent ethno-religious and communal conflicts in Nigeria, contrary to the widespread expectation that the inauguration of the civilian administration would usher in democratic stability. The nature of the politics of the transition programme and the reluctance of the post-military regime to address the national question have led to the resurgence of social groups that make demands for incorporation and empowerment. The central argument is that unbridled competition for power, and the failure of government to ...
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Abstract
Certain tenets are shared in North Africa that articulate Maghribi Mediterranean patterns of conceptualisation of power relations in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya ? one Islam, one nation (al?maghrib al?'arabi), one culture, one language, and a silence. This culture of silence ? the refusal to engage in discussions on slavery and racial attitudes ? is the subject of this article. Internally, in the name of hegemony ?Arab?Islamic hegemony in North Africa ? this issue is concealed and, externally, Mediterranean slavery has ...
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Abstract
Most analyses of China's renewed engagement with Africa treat China as the driving force, and little recognition is given to the role of African agency, especially beyond the level of state elites. This article investigates the extent of African agency in engagements with China and argues that at various levels African actors have negotiated, shaped, and even driven Chinese engagements in important ways. Suggesting a theoretical framework that captures agency both within and beyond the state, the article provides an empirical ...
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Abstract
Shortly after the overthrow of the Traoré regime in early 1991, several thousand cotton farmers in the southern part of Mali rose up to demand significant policy changes in cotton production and marketing. This rural revolt symbolised a new era of âdemocracy in the countrysideâ, and brought forth a vital, new political actor (the National Union of Cotton and Food Crop Producers, Syndicat des Producteurs de Coton de Vivriers, SYCOV) in Malian politics. After listening to more than thirty years of ...
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by Christophe Béné, Louisa Evans, David Mills, et al.Solomon Ovie, Aminu Raji, Ahmadu Tafida, Amaga Kodio, Famory Sinaba, Pierre Morand, Jacques Lemoalle, Neil Andrew
Abstract
Resilience thinking is an important addition to the range of frameworks and approaches that can be used to understand and manage complex social–ecological systems like small-scale fisheries. However, it is yet to lead to better environmental or development outcomes for fisheries stakeholders in terms of food security, improved livelihoods and ecological sustainability. This paper takes an empirical approach by focusing on the fundamentals of resilience thinking to evaluate its usefulness in developing relevant management interventions in small-scale fisheries in the Niger ...
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(14 August 2012)
Abstract
The three principle and intertwining security threats in the North of Mali are trafficking (drugs, arms, cigarettes, cars, etc.), rebellious uprisings and terrorist activity. Any attempts at maintaining law and order are undermined by the fragility of state structures, and the lack of equipment and infrastructure for the armed forces. These threats also weaken the socioeconomic fabric of local communities and Malian national and territorial unity. The Malian government endeavours to address these challenges by adopting and implementing security and anti-terrorism ...
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Abstract
Why did the transition from socialism to capitalism result in improved growth in some countries and significant economic decline in others? Scholars have advanced three main arguments: (1) successful countries rapidly implemented neoliberal policies; (2) failures were not due to policies but to poor institutional environments; and (3) policies were counterproductive because they damaged the state. We present a state-centered theory and empirically demonstrate for the first time one of several possible mechanisms linking neoliberal policies to poor economic performance: mass ...
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The Harvard Human Rights Journal, Vol. 19, No. 95. (2006)
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Talk of reforming the United Nations has been around for almost as long as the institution itself has been in existence. 2 The report on U.N. reform that appeared in December 2004, however, has added electricity and urgency to such talk. It now appears that for the first time since the U.N. Charter was adopted in 1945, the idea of constructive and tangible change in the U.N. system is receiving serious attention from a wide array of national and international actors. ...
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(2011)
Abstract
In the Sahel, the number of people suffering from chronic food insecurity, high levels of poverty and vulnerability due to drought is increasing. Food crises in the Sahelian region of West Africa can no longer be treated as limited events, caused by occasional hazards like a drought. Food and nutrition insecurity have become long-term, chronic problems. Acute food crises, such as occurred in 2005, and again in 2010, are short term peaks of an underlying trend of increasing chronic vulnerability. The growing ...
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Abstract
Updated rainfall data to 2006 confirm that the Sahelian rainfall has increased since the end of the 1990s, but the annual average rainfall is still as low as during the drought of the 1970s. The decrease of rainfall is higher in the Northwest and lower in the Southeast Sahel. The increase of temperature over West Africa during the end of the 20th century induced an increase of Potential Evaporation, which might reduce the runoff. However, the joint effect of climate change ...
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Abstract
Abstract This article analyzes the ways in which Esso Standard Italiana, the Italian affiliate of Standard Oil (New Jersey), and the state-owned firm Azienda Generale Italiana Petroli (Italian General Oil Company, Agip), redefined the job of gas station attendants in post-war Italy. It argues that, drawing on US scientific management and marketing, the two companies advanced a new understanding of masculinity and class. They promoted the idea that gas station attendants should distance themselves from the forms of male working-class identity that ...
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Abstract
This article describes the independent contribution of pacific clerics to Islamic diffusion in West Africa. The particular role of Serakhulle (or Soninke) clerics, better known as Jakhanke, is examined in detail. The Jakhanke became a distinct clerical caste among the Serakhulle, initially through the work of al-Hajj Salim Suware who led them first at Diakha-Masina and eventually at Diakha-Bambukhu, where they lost a good deal of their Serakhulle cultural traits. Henceforth they acquired a self-consciously Islamic image alongside an increasing identification ...
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A striking feature of African history is the volume of commerce and production that has been possible without the full panoply of credit, insurances, future markets, stock companies, limited liability, and other legal and financial services that make up the formal sector of modern economies. The contributions to this volume investigate institutional nexuses through which money has been managed in Africa. Together they present important perspectives that are needed to understand the present economic crisis on the continent. ...
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(16 February 1995)
Abstract
The Sufi Muslim orders are the most significant institutions in Senegalese society. While Islamic political groups are often accused of destabilizing African states, Leonardo Villalón argues that these brotherhoods have played a crucial part in making Senegal one of the most stable and democratic of African countries. Focusing on a regional administrative center, he combines a detailed account of grassroots politics with an analysis of national and international political forces. This is a major study that should be read by every ...
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Abstract
ABSTRACTThis article explores men in armsâ conceptions of armed violence in a country which has been prone to a violent cycle of rebellion and repression. Based on ethnographic research in Chad, it analyses combatantsâ life trajectories in an unstable political environment and a militarised economy. It moves beyond rebellion towards an analysis of the most mundane patterns of the activities conducted by men in arms, to understand what is at stake beyond times and spaces of war. It argues that armed ...
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Abstract
Political realities in the capital cities of impoverished countries emerging from violent conflict illustrate how local actors can be hindered in conducting political affairs independently from the interests and influence of national governments as well as international agencies. This experience problematises the argument that the main cause of political impasse in African cities governed by opposition parties is incomplete decentralisation, whereby a devolution of responsibilities is not matched by a downward reallocation of resources. Although resulting competition constrains local governments' opportunities ...
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Abstract
This paper analyses how the French media perceive the advent of Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in the Sahel, and particularly in Niger. It shows that the French media are constructing Niger as a `grey area', a dangerous place and a `failed state' through a monolithic discourse rooted in French cultural and ideological presuppositions about Africa and Africans. I argue that the monolithic discourse of French media on the War on Terror in the Sahel is the result of similar ...
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In Mobility, Transnationalism and Contemporary African Societies (2010), pp. 72-91
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In Rethinking resistance : revolt and violence in African history (2003)
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(2008)
Abstract
(2008-05-16), Jean-Pierre Dozon / Alice Bellagamba (Dir.) Cette thèse, basée sur une recherche de terrain entre la capitale mauritanienne et le centre sud du pays (frontière avec le Mali), traite des relations de certains groupes pastoraux peuls (FulaaBe) avec l'État mauritanien. Évoluant aux marges du contrôle étatique, les FulaaBe ont été intégrés à l'État très tardivement (années 1980), ce qui permet de saisir la nature du croisement de la trajectoire historique du groupe avec la construction de l'État mauritanien. La thèse ...
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Africa Today, Vol. 58, No. 3. (2012), pp. 2-21
Abstract
This article inquires into the relationship between the state and the Fulaaɓe, a Fulani community with pastoral and nomadic origins in Mauritania. First, it shows the state-driven process of Fulaaɓe marginalization by analyzing elites' discourses on these "bushmen" and their hegemonic forms of government (administrative control, patronage relationships, "ethnic" persecutions, and so forth). Then, it discusses how the Fulaaɓe have found spaces for agency and political mobilization. By recasting the analysis into the Gramscian theoretical framework, the article aims at participating ...
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Abstract
This article explores political tensions between successive nineteenth-century rulers of the inland delta of the Niger in central Mali (the Fulbe Diina of Hamdullahi and the Futanke successors of al-Hajj Umar) and the pastoral interests of the Fulbe chiefdoms on their eastern periphery, in a region known as the Hayre. A close study of changing forms of local governance and natural resource management demonstrates that although different strategies were employed by the Fulbe and Futanke states to control the Hayre, the ...
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(02 June 2003)
Abstract
This book is about the ways in which the agro-pastoral Fulbe in the Sahel deal with insecurity in their lives. It focuses on the dynamic interplay between various ecological and historical realities in which ecological, social and political insecurities take shape, the ways people cope with these insecurities in the use of natural and social resources, and the cultural understandings of contexts and strategies the Fulbe develop in this process. As will be shown the Fulbe progressively lose control over their ...
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Abstract
The end of internal slavery in West Africa is generally associated with an increase in labour mobility. This article complicates this picture by showing that the effects of status – the rank effect – on people's ability to migrate often outlasted emancipation. In Sabi, a Soninke village in Upper River Gambia, economic migration intensified and globalised from the 1950s onwards. Although they have since been free to move, the descendants of slaves have migrated less than those of the freeborn. The ...
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Abstract
This article examines the migration trajectories of individuals of slave descent and ‘mixed descent’ (children of slave concubines) in a royal family network from the Haayre region of central Mali. Focusing on the twentieth century, it considers the extent to which social status has defined options for mobility within this network. Its argument is twofold. First, it shows that attention should be paid not only to the slave/free divide but also to subtler hierarchical nuances such as mixed descent and royal ...
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Abstract
This article explores the strategies of emancipation of former Tuareg slaves (iklan) in the Gao region of northern French Sudan (present-day Mali) during the late 1940s and 1950s. In the wake of the war effort and shifting colonial policy, and in spite of colonial tolerance toward vestiges of slavery, iklan engaged in local and long-distance migrations aimed at achieving emancipation. The article argues that the most successful spatial strategies were new migratory patterns in the Gao region through which iklan appropriated ...
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Abstract
Recognizably different Islamic trends in contemporary Northern Nigeria can be described in terms of traditionalism, modernism, and fundamentalism, and each trend can be correlated to a different educational background as well as a different political orientation. Within the last two decades, each of these trends has changed, with traditionalism shifting toward modernism, and modernism becoming fundamentalism, while fundamentalism faces imminent transformation in uncertain directions. Although handy for analyzing different trends, traditionalism, modernism, and fundamentalism should be recognized as discursive categories that ...
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The International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 34, No. 3. (2001), 601, doi:10.2307/3097556
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Abstract
This article explores the transformation of the study of tafsīr in Kano city (Northern Nigeria) during the twentieth century, highlighting the role of a Sufi phenomenon of revival (al-fayda, the 'flood') within an established order (the Tijāniyya) in promoting intellectual change. The historical background to the Nigerian 'flood' is the encounter between the Senegalese Shaykh Ibrāhīm Niasse (d. 1975) and a dynamic sector of the scholarly class of Kano. Two case-studies of local tafsīr networks are presented here in order to ...
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Abstract
Social scientists often attribute moderation of the political salience of ethnicity in ethnically diverse societies to the presence of cross-cutting cleavagesâthat is, to dimensions of identity or interest along which members of the same ethnic group may have diverse allegiances. Yet, estimating the causal effects of cross-cutting cleavages is difficult. In this article, we present experimental results that help explain why ethnicity has a relatively minor political role in Mali, an ethnically heterogeneous sub-Saharan African country in which ethnic identity is ...
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Abstract
The practice of misappropriating and stealing huge sums of public money under the guise of enhancing national security has come under increasing scrutiny in Nigeria. This article investigates the history and practice of the use of so-called security votes, and shows how the ambiguity and secrecy associated with the concept of national security has helped institutionalize unaccountable governance at all levels of government. Tracing the use and abuse of security votes from the military regime of General Babangida to the present ...
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Cahiers d'Études Africaines, Vol. 2012/2, No. N° 206-207 L'islam au-delà des catégories. (2012), pp. 545-574
Abstract
Résumé Au lendemain de la révolution islamique iranienne de 1979, une abondante littérature a été produite en Occident sur l’islamisme en réponse à la demande des décideurs politiques. Jusque-là l’apanage de quelques orientalistes, l’étude de l’islam est devenue un champ de recherches multidisciplinaire impliquant des chercheurs dans toutes les branches des sciences humaines et sociales. Cet article, qui est axé sur l’Afrique de l’Ouest, questionne de nombreuses idées reçues concernant l’islamisme. L’idée maîtresse de l’article est que l’islamisme n’est pas un nouveau ...
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