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Showing papers in "Review of African Political Economy in 2005"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argued that poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs) can be understood as a technology of "social control" which seeks to shape domestic political space, and that it is precisely through participation that international Non-Governmental Organisations and bilateral donors are working with the IFIs to secure ever more intimate supervision of African political communities.
Abstract: This paper argues that Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) can be understood as a technology of ‘social control’, which seeks to shape domestic political space. Despite widespread recognition that the World Bank and the IMF continue to impose orthodox policy conditions on debt relief and loans to African countries, many suggest the requirement in PRSPs for civil society ‘participation’ introduces a progressive element that could, in time, subvert the logic of coercion. In contrast, this paper suggests that it is precisely through participation that international Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and bilateral donors are working with the IFIs** to secure ever more intimate supervision of African political communities. Thus, if the answer to Hanlon's (1991) rhetorical question ‘who calls the shots?’ under structural adjustment was ‘the IFIs’, the answer under PRSPs is ‘an uneasy coalition of NGOs, donors and the IFIs’. These groups share an agenda of securing consent to liberal systems of politica...

89 citations


Journal Article
TL;DR: Abbink et al. as discussed by the authors re-examined Liberation in Namibia: Political Culture Since Independence, Uppsala: The Nordic Africa Institute, 2003b), Re-Examining Liberation and Reconciliation: A Reader in Namibian Politics.
Abstract: Melber, H. (2000), 'Economic and Social Transformation in the Process of Colonisation: Society and State Before and During German Rule' in C. Keulder (ed.), State, Society and Democracy: A Reader in Namibian Politics, Windhoek: Gamsberg Macmillan, pp. 16-48; (2002), 'Contested Territory: Land in Southern Africa: The Case of Namibia', Journal 50, Namibia Scientific Society, Windhoek, pp. 7785; (2003a), 'Namibia, land of thebrave: Selective memories on war and violence within nation building' in J. Abbink, M. de Bruijn & K. van Walraven (eds.), Rethinking Resistance: Revolt and Violence in African History, Leiden: Brill (African Dynamics; vol. 2), pp. 305-327; (ed.) (2003b), Re-examining Liberation in Namibia: Political Culture Since Independence, Uppsala: The Nordic Africa Institute.

76 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined the economic activities of non-state actors in war in Somalia and Angola and argued that prolonged wars are characterised by the emergence of social orders of violence beyond the state.
Abstract: This paper examines the activities of non-state actors in war in Somalia and Angola. Arguing that prolonged wars are characterised by the emergence of social orders of violence beyond the state, our analytical focus is on how actors establish and sustain these orders. A core influence is the insight from research on war economies that war is not equal to the breakdown of societal order, but represents an alternative form of social order. We therefore examine the economic activities of insurgents in regard to their embeddedness in social and political spheres. The central question in this paper is how economic, political and symbolic aspects interact and determine as well as transform social orders of violence. With the examples of Somalia and Angola, two rather distinct cases of non-state orders of violence are examined. It is argued that these orders represent forms of authority with fundamental structural aspects in common. We suggest that these orders can be systematised on a continuum between two pole...

65 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors study the impact of political and economic liberalisation on modes of socioeconomic engagement and accumulation in Kenya's capital city, Nairobi, subsequent to the introduction of multiparty "democracy" in 1992.
Abstract: This is a study of the impact of political and economic liberalisation on modes of socio-economic engagement and accumulation in Kenya's capital city, Nairobi, subsequent to the introduction of multiparty ‘democracy’ in 1992.1 On the one hand economic liberalisation led to a diminished state-provisioning capacity and unwillingness to protect public interests. On the other hand, political conditionalities opened up political space but also spawned anomic tendencies within the regime and among social groups and individuals, with struggles in defence of economic position against each other at one level, and against the state and local councils at another. This account focuses on the political economy underlying the resultant urban banditry in Nairobi. It seeks to demonstrate how a besieged regime facilitates the criminalisation of urban existence in a bid to ensure its survival. The argument here is that beleaguered regimes survive through a twin strategy. They privatise public violence and appropriate priva...

65 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The social capital embedded in these networks was a "club good" rather than a public good; both are non-rival in nature, but with a club good, unlike public goods, exclusion is workable as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Kivu's traditional patrimonial system revolved around the distribution of access rights to communally held land in return for rents that were redistributed through the system. The social capital embedded in this institutional framework was a public good. The introduction of a ‘modern’ land law in 1973 destroyed the social cohesion of that patrimonial system; it sanctioned efforts to capitalise and appropriate the full value of these rents. At the time of the law's introduction, market mechanisms for factor markets including land, were not developed, so they had to be simulated. The core of this simulation consisted of exchanging social capital, built up in networks that involved political power-holders and state administrators, for assets. The social capital embedded in these networks was a ‘club good’ rather than a public good; both are non-rival in nature, but with a club good, unlike public goods, exclusion is workable. Its effect was therefore marginalisation and dispossession of those not belonging t...

64 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the recent ideological position of "Vote for Development" which the ZANU-PF government in Zimbabwe pursued during the election campaign of March 2005, and the brief period of freer expression that accompanied the campaign.
Abstract: This article examines the recent ideological position of ‘Vote for Development’ which the ZANU-PF government in Zimbabwe pursued during the election campaign of March 2005, and the brief period of freer expression that accompanied the campaign. This strategy of power, the willingness to seemingly embrace democratic process, is then compared with the postelection situation in Zimbabwe, where despite having entrenched themselves in government, the ZANU-PF leadership is conducting a campaign to destroy the infrastructural, physical, economic and social assets of the urban poor. I review the ‘Operation Restore Order’ against informal traders, and the ‘Operation Murambatsvina’ (‘Operation Clear Away the Trash’ – or grime, rubbish, filth) of 25 May to early July 2005 against peoples homes, and ask how we can categorise the Zimbabwean state in its contemporary, seemingly contradictory, form.

62 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In Africa, where the need to simultaneously tackle conflict and underdevelopment is most pressing, the global institutions have failed to acknowledge that the neo-liberal policies that they pursue have been instrumental in structuring the domestic political and economic tensions that have contributed to violent conflict as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Within contemporary liberal peace discourse, poverty and underdevelopment are being constructed as ‘new threats' that feed conflict and terrorism. This perception has encouraged a growing convergence between the security and development policies of the major donors. However, in Africa, where the need to simultaneously tackle conflict and underdevelopment is most pressing, the global institutions have failed to acknowledge that the neo-liberal policies that they pursue have been instrumental in structuring the domestic political and economic tensions that have contributed to violent conflict. Moreover, the current preoccupation with the war on terror has encouraged the co-option of development resources for security functions resulting in the incremental securitisation of development policies. Regardless of its expanding base and the process of mission creep, the liberal peace complex has failed to secure sustainable peace in Africa. Into the vacuum created by failure, the ‘new barbarian' agenda that underpins the ‘war on terror' has surreptitiously moved, expanding its reach and its wake of pillage and destruction.

55 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that most Sudanese are skeptical about the IGA's ability to deliver lasting peace, much less democracy and justice, and argue that it is too early to give up on the process, but not too late to analyse and critique it, in the hope that this will encourage debate and stimulate the Sudanese to take control of the process from self-proclaimed leaders and an "international community" which has not encouraged broad participation.
Abstract: Peace is more than the cessation of military hostilities, more than simple political stability. Peace is the presence of justice and peace building entails addressing factors and forces that stand as impediments to the realisation of all human rights. 1 The hopes and aspirations of the Sudanese people hang on the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD)2 peace process and there are increasing doubts whether it can deliver lasting peace, much less democracy and justice. It is too early to give up on the process, but not too late to analyse and critique it, in the hope that this will encourage debate and stimulate the Sudanese to take control of the process from self-proclaimed leaders and an ‘international community’ which has not encouraged broad participation. This is all the more important because there is every indication that the flaws discussed below will be repeated in trying to resolve the conflict in Darfur. The following points are articulated in the pages that follow: (1) most Sudanese...

46 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the current Zambian discourse around neo-liberal economic polices, in particular its expression in a trade union-led campaign against the privatisation of the Zambian National Commercial Bank (ZNCB).
Abstract: This paper explores the current Zambian discourse around neo-liberal economic polices, in particular its expression in a trade union-led campaign against the privatisation of the Zambian National Commercial Bank (ZNCB). It locates the origin of these protests in the impact of economic liberalisation programmes implemented by the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) since 1991. The paper studies the privatisation of the economically strategic copper mining industry and, taking as a case study the mining town of Luanshya, explores the linkages between a secretive and corrupt privatisation process, and its human consequences for mineworkers, their families and communities. It finds that the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) sought to implement privatisation regardless of legal requirements, social consequences, and the future sustainability of the mining industry. It surveys the development of opposition to privatisation amongst civil society organisations, particularly trade unions, and...

45 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors consider the relationship between working class struggle and popular protest in Africa over the last 40 years and argue that the form and content of class relations which developed in the period of nationalist struggle and early "national development" have been fundamentally restructured by the process of globalisation.
Abstract: This article considers the relationship between working class struggle and popular protest in Africa over the last 40 years. We argue that the form and content of class relations which developed in the period of nationalist struggle and early ‘national development’ have been fundamentally restructured by the process of globalisation. From the late 1970s, a great wave of widespread popular protest and resistance was noted around the world, including Africa (Parfitt & Riley, 1994; Walton and Seddon, 1994). The strikes, marches, demonstrations and riots that characterised this wave of protest and resistance (often termed ‘bread riots’ or ‘IMF riots’) usually involved a variety of social groups and categories and did not always take place under a working class or trade union banner or with working class leadership – if this term is used in its narrow sense. A broader array of popular forces did, however, challenge not only the immediate austerity measures introduced as part of structural adjustment and ‘econo...

45 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors explored the concept of new or modern slavery in the wake of media reports of widespread child slavery on cocoa plantations in Cote d'Ivoire (the RCI). But their focus on the RCI as a case study is intended as a stimulus to further questions and broader research into the relationship between capitalism and modern slavery.
Abstract: This paper explores the concept of ‘new’ or modern slavery in the wake of media reports of widespread child slavery on cocoa plantations in Cote d'Ivoire (the RCI). The first part defines slavery as unpaid forced labour, identifies the defining feature of modern slavery as the shift in the master-slave relation from legal ownership to illegal control, and then draws on a range of secondary sources to show that child slavery does exist in the Cote d'Ivoire even if numbers are contested. The many thousands of child slaves apparently trafficked from Mali make this a West African (and not simply Ivorian) phenomenon. The aspects of global capitalist development used in part two to explain the Ivorian situation, namely deproletarianisation and the costs of adjustment are also wider processes not unique to one country. The focus on the RCI as a case study is therefore intended as a stimulus to further questions and broader research into the relationship between capitalism and modern slavery in Africa.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The death of Dr. John Garang, First Vice President of Sudan, President of Southern Sudan, and Chairman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/ Army (SPLM/A) in a helicopter crash on 30 July, and the riots that followed, produced doubts about the viability of the 9 January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the prospects of peace processes underway elsewhere in the country as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The death of Dr. John Garang, First Vice President of Sudan, President of Southern Sudan, and Chairman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/ Army (SPLM/A) in a helicopter crash on 30 July, and the riots that followed, produced doubts about the viability of the 9 January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the prospects of peace processes underway elsewhere in the country. On the surface, this is not surprising because Garang had been the leader of the SPLM/A since its founding in 1983 and for many in Sudan and abroad he virtually personified the struggle of the south. Garang was also the unchallenged focal point during the various peace processes, in particular during the final phase of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) negotiations which were largely reduced to then First Vice President Ali Osman Taha and himself. And more than anyone else on either side of the table, Garang was the biggest beneficiary of the peace process which granted him a virtual hegemonic position ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In industrialised economies, there is a growing commodification and privatisation of public services, undertaken through the establishment of public private partnerships as mentioned in this paper, and state policy is becoming increasingly market-driven, managing national politics in such a way as to adapt to the pressures of transnational market forces.
Abstract: One of the most significant elements of globalisation is the way in which the reshaping of the public-private divide is transforming the relationship between state and economy. In industrialised economies, there is a growing commodification and privatisation of public services, undertaken through the establishment of public private partnerships. State policy is becoming increasingly ‘market-driven’, managing national politics in such a way as to adapt to the pressures of transnational market forces (Leys, 2001). In developing economies, structural adjustment has removed the state as the principal agent of development, while private agencies are playing an increasingly public role as they engage in public service delivery. These include non-profit organisations (churches and NGOs) and for-profit caregiving and educational institutions (van Rooy & Robinson, 1998). In the political arena, the discourse over donor-defined democratisation has also meant a larger political role for a differentiated set of priva...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In 1985, Julius K. Nyerere, one of the South's most articulate and influential critics of Northern policies resigned as president of Tanzania as mentioned in this paper, and his successor Ali Hassan Mwinyi would...
Abstract: In 1985, Julius K. Nyerere, one of the South's most articulate and influential critics of Northern policies resigned as president of Tanzania. Soon after, his successor – Ali Hassan Mwinyi – would ...

Journal Article
TL;DR: This article showed that the greater a country's dependence on oil and mineral resources, the worse its growth performance, and that resource-poor countries, without petroleum, grew four times more rapidly than resource-rich countries, with petroleum, despite the fact that they had half the savings.
Abstract: One of the biggest issues facing global development is that oil exports have contributed so little to the welfare of developing countries. The 'paradox of plenty', or the 'resource curse' as it is generally known, is that countries rich in natural resources, especially oil, tend to suffer from lower living standards, slower growth rates and higher incidence of conflict than their resource-poor counterparts. Between 1970-1993, for example, resource-poor countries, without petroleum, grew four times more rapidly than resource-rich countries, with petroleum, despite the fact that they had half the savings.' The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have both confirmed that the greater a country's dependence on oil and mineral resources, the worse its growth performance.2

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examines the implications of these military and business initiatives for African nations and the reasons for lack of information about them and concludes that despite these major developments, the media are not informing the public.
Abstract: US involvement in Africa is growing following threats of terrorism and interruptions in oil production and because of desires by foreign corporations to expand their activities on the continent. The response of American policymakers has been to establish a stronger military presence that will engage in counterterrorism initiatives and police oil installations. The goals and extent of this buildup, and the ideology legitimating it, are new. They are departures from Cold War policies. Similarly, the response of American business leaders to weaknesses in the infrastructure and political order of African states leads them to establish their own forms of community development, known as strategic philanthropy, in order to protect and expand local markets. Despite these major developments, the media are not informing the public. This article examines the implications of these military and business initiatives for African nations and the reasons for lack of information about them. Editor's Note: This article was ...

Journal Article
TL;DR: For instance, the authors argues that China's growing public presence in Africa, coming as it does against the backdrop of a sustained Western media campaign of'shock and awe' at China's new-found power, raises important questions about the nature of this emerging relationship.
Abstract: China's growing public presence in Africa, coming as it does against the backdrop of a sustained Western media campaign of 'shock and awe' at China's new-found power, raises important questions about the nature of this emerging relationship. Once an avowedly antiimperialist force on the continent with aspirations to 'third world' leadership, Beijing's recent foray into Africa has been characterised by a singular focus on resource acquisition and commercial opportunism that seemingly belies the rhetoric of partnership. While increasingly necessary to the health of the Chinese economy, Africa occupies an important place in its global ambitions as well.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The people of Latin America are standing up to Big Brother to the North at the 34-country Summit of the Americas as discussed by the authors, and the BBC pointed out the discomfitur...
Abstract: We write this editorial as news is breaking that the people of Latin America are standing up to Big Brother to the North at the 34-country Summit of the Americas. The BBC pointed to the discomfitur...

Journal ArticleDOI
Barry Riddell1
TL;DR: This paper examined the documents of these International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and queries such data in two senses: a) has the nation's development agenda been able to recover from the debt overhang, and b) are the fundamental causes of the country's violent past addressed?
Abstract: Sierra Leone experienced the violent results of an undeclared civil war which lasted over a decade. The state had lost control of the country's hinterland! Maiming, killing, and destruction dominated this part of West Africa, and the violence largely resulted from a set of programmes and policies of the country's post-colonial government which produced pronounced and obscene elite-peasant disparities. With the termination of hostilities, the IMF and the World Bank have financially assisted the country's recovery and rehabilitation through a set of programmes. These were dominated by the IMF's Post-Conflict scheme and the jointly-administered (IMF/WB) Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. This paper interrogates the documents of these International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and queries such data in two senses: a) has the nation's development agenda been able to recover from the debt overhang, and b) are the fundamental causes of the country's violent past addressed? The experience of Sierr...

Journal Article
TL;DR: In the case of Darfur, Cook et al. as discussed by the authors argued that the United States would have the gall to cast a US veto to block Darfur being committed to the international criminal court.
Abstract: down to work. In the meantime, while the UN tried to accommodate the ideological antipathy of the Bush administration to the international criminal court, another 100,000 people would have been killed in Darfur. One of the six reasons cited by the UN commission for recommending the international criminal court was precisely that it could be activated immediately, without any delay. Now ministers tell us they are looking for a way forward, but that will only be possible through agreement in the security council - in other words, with the US. But do they really believe that the Bush administration would have the gall to cast a US veto to block Darfur being committed to the international criminal court? Where would that leave all the warm mood music on freedom and justice with which George Bush punctuated his inaugural speech only last month [January 2005]? Come to that, where would it leave the impassioned pleas of Tony Blair for the world to address the plight of Africa as a scar on our conscience? A US veto would be as embarrassing to Blair as it would be shaming to Bush. But just as embarrassing would be for Britain once again to be seen doing the rounds and trying to persuade the rest of the world to accept the Bush position and not to push the issue to a vote. The only way out with dignity is for Blair to call in some of the many debts that Bush owes him. This is the time when a candid friend should tell Bush to put the urgent need of the people of Darfur for justice before his own dogmatic hostility to the international criminal court. First published in The Guardian, 11 February 2005. Robin Cook, MP, died on 6 August 2005.


Journal ArticleDOI
Jock McCulloch1
TL;DR: In 2003, a small community group, "The Concerned People Against Asbestos (CPA)" based at Prieska in the Northern Cape, won a court case in a foreign country, which may change the way in which multinational corporations behave in the developing world as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In March 2003 a small community group, ‘The Concerned People Against Asbestos (CPA)’ based at Prieska in the Northern Cape, won a court case in a foreign country. That case may change the way in which multinational corporations behave in the developing world. Until now the hidden costs of mining in Southern Africa have been paid for by labour. The CPA's victory may also help to end that injustice. It is usual to depict communities like Prieska as dis-empowered and impoverished. Despite its lack of resources the CPA was able to synchronise an elaborate game of small and big politics. The group's victory suggests that such communities have levels of political and organisation skill which given the right alignments can be irresistible.

Journal Article
TL;DR: In this paper, the report of the Commission strikes a note of optimism and hope in its attitude to Africa and its prospects, and the task will be to work together to make a reality out of that prospect.
Abstract: If the outcome of our combined efforts over a ten or twenty year period were to be a real reinforcement of 'human capital' in Africa then their success as people will also be dependent upon all the other dimensions of successful development. The production of people with skills has to move in parallel with the provision of the tools they need to do the job. As a spanking new hospital without the right quantity and quality of staff can be a white elephant of massive proportions, so also the trained pharmacist in the town clinic needs to have the tools to do the job an income that is sufficient to live, uninterrupted electricity to keep the vaccines safe in the fridge, clean water in the taps, and drugs to dispense that are not counterfeit chalk tablets. And pharmacy has to be a viable business in a thriving economy, and one which is not subject to the devastation of war or the debilitation of corruption. The Report of the Commission strikes a note of optimism and hope in its attitude to Africa and its prospects. The task will be to work together to make a reality out of that prospect.

Journal Article
TL;DR: A study of the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2004 in Ghana, focusing on the particular issues that led to the three Norethern Regions defying the national trend and voting for the opposition NDC as discussed by the authors revealed that the key factors behind this were local and traditional rather than regional or national.
Abstract: A study of the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2004 in Ghana, focusing on the particular issues that led to the three Norethern Regions defying the nnational trend and voting for the opposition NDC. The study reveals that the key factors behind this were local and traditional rather than regional or national. This indicates the continuing importance of inter and intra-ethnic rivalries in those regions.

Journal Article
TL;DR: For example, this article pointed out that Southern African societies still bear the lasting effects of their colonial history; in particular, the inherited structural legacies of an apartheid system, and that gross inequalities in access to, and possession of land are a reflection of this earlier colonial expansion.
Abstract: Southern African societies still bear the lasting effects of their colonial history; in particular, the inherited structural legacies of an apartheid system. While this special brand of white minority rule was later called 'separate development', the euphemistic term actually describes in a rather appropriate way colonisation the violent removal of people from their land. Today, gross inequalities in access to, and possession of land are a reflection of this earlier colonial expansion. 2004 marked a century since the genocide started in then 'German South West Africa' and is a reminder of the origins of Namibia's skewed land distribution (cf. Melber, 2000). Whatever rationale for seeking solutions to this impasse are utilised, this memory cannot be tilted among the generations of victims.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors outline the contours of the attempt by the ANC government to reorder state-civil society relations by delineating the form of civil society participation that the government has promulgated in the field of justice enforcement in order to tame or direct the uncontrolled aspects and forces of self-organisation emanating from the struggle against apartheid known as people's power.
Abstract: In this essay I will outline the contours of the attempt by the ANC government to reorder state-civil society relations. This will be done by delineating the form of civil society participation that the government has promulgated in the field of justice enforcement in order to ‘tame’ or direct the uncontrolled aspects and forces of self-organisation emanating from the struggle against apartheid known as ‘people’s power’. The article will argue that the establishment of institutions like the Community Policing Forums (CPF) were created to harbour and give direction to these forces rests on and allows for a particular type of democratic citizenship or normative ethical being, while excluding other types of political-ethical being. The essay illustrates how past ideas about friends and enemies of the ANC are used as the interpretive lens to decode opposition to the CPF.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: With the UK presidency of the EU Council of Ministers pending (July 2005), EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson is coming under increased pressure to modify the European Commission's approach to Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.
Abstract: With the UK presidency of the EU Council of Ministers pending (July 2005), EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson is coming under increased pressure to modify the European Commission’s approach to Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. Criticism and pressure for change is not only coming from an increasingly vocal and active campaign by non-governmental development agencies in the UK, Europe and Africa (see http://www.stopepa.org/ for details of the campaign), but also from several more official sources. These include the Africa Commission established by prime minister Tony Blair, the inquiry by the House of Commons Select Committee on International Development into EU-ACP EPA negotiations1 and the joint position paper adopted by the UK Department of Trade and Industry and Department for International Development.2 Commissioner Mandelson has responded to this criticism by modifying and extending the rhetoric on the centrality of development co...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the reasons why African leaders in quasi-democratic regimes have used their political position to embezzle economic resources, a process which often involves the mass pauperisation of their'subjects' and the deepening of their dependence on the patrimonial favours of the 'ruler'.
Abstract: This paper explores the reasons why African leaders in quasi-democratic regimes' (Bongo's Gabon, Biya's Cameroon, Chiluba's Zambia, Muluzi's Malawi, Moi's Kenya, Mugabe's Zimbabwe etc.) have used their political position to embezzle economic resources a process which often involves the mass pauperisation of their 'subjects' and the deepening of their dependence on the patrimonial favours of the 'ruler'. The paper seeks to understand the motivation of extreme corruption defined both in terms of involving large amounts such as the billions of dollars taken by Sani Abacha (which continues to be lodged in a UK bank) and systemically, where embezzlement becomes the strategic essence of governance. Where extreme corruption is systemic, it also involves deliberate measures to undermine the financial basis of oppositional political groups thereby reducing their adversarial potential. Clearly, financial power translates into functional political power, thus perpetuating the domination of the political party to which the corrupt leaders belong.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the ways in which the political divides that have existed for centuries not only remain important even in the post-colonial era, but interact with macroeconomic trends to generate a path of growth and development that is unique to Angola.
Abstract: Too often macroeconomic trends and long term growth prospects are considered in isolation from the very real effect of the physical, social and economic structures. This is particularly so in the case of Angola as its huge flows of revenue from mineral exports collide with the legacy of external debt. However, the interaction of the overarching macro trends with existing political and regional divisions magnifies the difficulties of resolving either the economic or the political problems that have prevented progress for several decades. This paper discusses the ways in which the political divides that have existed for centuries not only remain important even in the post-colonial era, but interact with macroeconomic trends to generate a path of growth and development that is unique to Angola. It is argued that a long term political accommodation involving a solution to Angola's internal political tensions requires addressing all of these issues simultaneously since they all contribute to the current proble...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the notion of a defective state, including those designated as weak, failed, or collapsed, has a number of obvious advantages for the West and justify external action to intervene in the internal affairs of domestic regimes and, finally, they imply that such action can only reliably remove the inherent threat posed by defective states if intervention produces a project of political transformation.
Abstract: This paper argues that the notion of a defective state, including those designated as ‘weak’, ‘failed’ or ‘collapsed’, has a number of obvious advantages for the West. First and most obviously, it offers an explanation for the faults of the state in question that does not implicate outside forces. Second, it justifies external action to intervene in the internal affairs of domestic regimes and, finally, it implies that such action can only reliably remove the inherent threat posed by defective states if intervention produces a project of political transformation. This suggests three questions (which make up the focus of the paper as a whole). First, if outside forces are not to blame, what is there within defective states that explains their failings? Second, what form should an external response to these problems take and, third, what sort of political transformation should that external response seek to enact within the target state?