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This book focuses on the politics of democratization in Africa, especially the strategic choices of the political elite, both incumbent and opposition within the context of transition politics. The decade 1990- 2000 saw a total of 78 top leadership elections involving 43 of the 48 sub-Saharan African countries. Of these elections, only 27% led to regime change. Yet even where regime change occurred, authoritarianism persisted. The objective of the book is to analyze and explain this dual paradox of limited change of regime and persistent authoritarianism in the face of democratization. Its central thesis is that this eventuality is a function of the strategic environment of political engagem...
Since the decolonization of the African continent that began in earnest in the late 1950s, the trajectory of the continent's socioeconomic change and development has seen its fair share of contentious politics. Such contentions range from benign forms of electoral contestations and conflicts over the form and substance of democratic reform to spirited violence and outright war manifested in coups and counter-coups as well as the newly emergent specter of terrorism, particularly in the regions of West and East Africa. This volume grapples with this broad spectrum of the forces at play in the contentious dynamics of social change and development in Africa under the themes of violence, war, and political change; the dynamics of socioeconomic change and development; social movements and identity politics; and the politics of revolts and protests. This book is part of the African World Series, edited by Toyin Falola, Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, University of Texas at Austin.
Shows how the struggle for democracy has been waged in civil society, through opposition parties, and amongst traditionally marginalised groups like women and the young. This book also considers the remaining impediments to democratisation, in the form of a powerful police force and damaging structural adjustment policies.
Bringing together scholars from a wide array of disciplines - including anthropology, economics, history, sociology, and political science - this volume addresses the problems of the regime change and state failure in Africa in the context of the global economy, but from a specifically African perspective, arguing that the underdevelopment of the African economy is linked to the underdevelopment of the continents' nation states.
African Governance, Security, and Development explores the political economy of development in Africa. The contributors examine the impact and implications of the democratization process in Africa with particular focus on issues of economic, social, and institutional development. Through a variety of critical perspectives and disciplines, contributors analyze topics such as the impact of democratization on governance and institutional development, foreign aid and foreign direct investment, terrorism in Africa, identity politics, and the politics of oil extraction. African Governance, Security, and Development features the voices of scholars from institutions of higher learning in Africa and showcases case studies from the continent, bringing much-needed African and Africanist perspectives to current discussions about African political development and economy.
The making of contemporary Kenya is rooted in the depredations of colonialism. The struggle for independence, embodied in anticolonial nationalism, was a struggle for the political freedom, economic dignity, and self-determination of the long-oppressed people of Kenya. Yet six decades down the road, the fruits of independence on the part of the common citizens remain a mirage. The fruits of independence seem to have remained the preserve of the political class who, in essence, ended up effectively betraying the cause of anticolonial nationalism. This book explores this betrayal and seeks to account for why things turned out the way they did in Kenya.
The chapters in this book are written by scholars, academics, and practitioners from multiple disciplinary perspectives including the social sciences, humanities, and the natural sciences. This collection is thus rich in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary frameworks. This book is part of the African World Series, edited by Toyin Falola, Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, University of Texas at Austin.
This handbook constitutes a single collection of well researched articles and essays on African politics, governance and development from the pre-colonial through colonial to the post-colonial eras. Over the course of these interconnected periods, African politics have evolved with varied experiences across different parts of the continent. As politics is embedded both in the economy and the society, Africa has witnessed some changes in politics, economics, demography and its relations with the world in ways that requires in-depth analysis. This work provides an opportunity for old and new scholars to engage in the universe of the debate around African politics, governance and development and will serve as a ready reference material for students, researchers, policy makers and investors that are concerned with these issues.
This uniquely comprehensive study of Kenya's political trajectory shows how the struggle for democracy has been waged in civil society, through opposition parties, and amongst traditionally marginalised groups like women and the young. It also considers the remaining impediments to democratisation, in the form of a powerful police force and damaging structural adjustment policies. Thus, the authors argue, democratisation in Kenya is a laborious and non-linear process. Kenyans' recent electoral successes, the book concludes, have empowered them and reinvigorated the prospects for democracy, heralding a more autonomous and peaceful twenty-first century. -- Publisher's Description.
A former Africa editor for The Economist, Robert Guest addresses the troubled continent's thorniest problems: war, AIDS, and above all, poverty. Newly updated with a preface that considers political and economic developments of the past six years, The Shackled Continent is engrossing, highly readable, and as entertaining as it is tragic. Guest pulls the veil off the corruption and intrigue that cripple so many African nations, posing a provocative theory that Africans have been impoverished largely by their own leaders' abuses of power. From the minefields of Angola to the barren wheat fields of Zimbabwe, Guest gathers startling evidence of the misery African leaders have inflicted on their people. But he finds elusive success stories and examples of the resilience and resourcefulness of individual Africans, too; from these, he draws hope that the continent will eventually prosper. Guest offers choices both commonsense and controversial for Africans and for those in the West who wish Africa well.