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State-Building and Civil Society in Africa

Liberal Interventions and Global Governmentality

Edited by Clive Gabay, Carl Death

To Be Published December 30th 2013 by Routledge – 240 pages

Series: Routledge Studies in African Politics and International Relations

Purchasing Options:

  • Hardback: $135.00
    978-0-415-81824-7
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Description

This book bring together research on state-formation and civil society in a post-development context to interrogate international practices of state-building and civil society support in Africa from a critical perspective.

Drawing on critical, postcolonial and governmentality insights, the book problematises the assumptions made by Liberal internationalist scholars about the autonomy, efficacy and legitimacy of post-Cold War formalised civil society actors in Africa. The book addresses:

  • What kind of civil society is being constructed by international and multilateral donors in African states, and why?

  • What forms and groups of civil society are excluded from these processes, and what are the ramifications of this for citizenship in African states?

  • How do African states mediate between local, national, transnational and global civil society groups?

  • How does African politics extend and challenge our understanding and usage of the concept of civil society?

  • Does civil society remains a meaningful term in attempting to understand social, political and economic practices in these societies?

Providing a range of empirical cases and theoretical approaches, the chaptersd are united by their critical treatment of contemporary processes of state-building and civil society support in Africa. It will be of interest to students and scholars of African politics, development studies, International Relations; IPE and peacekeeping/making.

Contents

1. Introduction: Liberal interventions and global governmentality in Africa Clive Gabay and Carl Death Part 1: Liberalism in theory and practice 2. Civil Society and the Liberal Project in Ghana and Sierra Leone David Williams and Tom Young 3. Lawyers as civil society: Political legalism and state formation in Zambia Jeremy Gould 4. Civil Society, Citizenship and State Building in Nigeria Emmanuel Remi Aiyede Part 2: Development policy 5. Governing rural poverty and development in postcolonial Zimbabwe Kudzai Matereke 6. Civil society and the reproduction of neoliberal hegemony in Ghana Lord C. Mawuko-Yevugah 7. Civilising African Cities: International housing and urban policy from colonial to neoliberal times Branwen Gruffydd Jones Part 3: Constructing communities 8. Connecting state, citizen and society? The externalised context of community groups in Zambia Karen Treasure 9. Companies, communities and local security governance: Participatory community engagement and indirect rule Jana Honke Part 4: Alternative discourses 10. Informal Governmentalities: Entrepreneurial Citizenship and Informal Modes of Associational Life Alex Wafer 11. Autochthony and citizenship – "civil society" as vernacular architecture? Morten Bøås 12. Escaping Statebuilding: Resistance and Civil Society in the Democratic Republic of Congo Marta Iniguez de Heredia

Author Bio

Clive Gabay is Lecturer in International Politics at the School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary University of London, UK.

Carl Death is a Lecturer in International Politics at Aberystwyth University, UK

Name: State-Building and Civil Society in Africa: Liberal Interventions and Global Governmentality (Hardback) – Routledge 
Description: Edited by Clive Gabay, Carl Death. This book bring together research on state-formation and civil society in a post-development context to interrogate international practices of state-building and civil society support in Africa from a critical perspective. Drawing on critical,...
Categories: International Relations, African & Third World Politics, Politics & Development, Politics & International Relations, Political Lobbying & Interest Groups, Government, International Politics