States and power in Africa : comparative lessons in authority and control

Select an Action

Title:

States and power in Africa : comparative lessons in authority and control

Author:

Herbst, Jeffrey.

ISBN:

9780691010274

9780691010281

Personal Author:

Herbst, Jeffrey.

Publication Information:

Princeton, N.J. ; Chichester : Princeton University Press, c2000.

Physical Description:

x, 280 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

Series:

Princeton studies in international history and politics

Contents:

The challenge of state-building in Africa -- Power and space in precolonial Africa -- The Europeans and the African problem -- The political kingdom in independent Africa -- National design and the broadcasting of power -- Chiefs, states, and the land -- The coin of the African realm -- The politics of migration and citizenship -- The past and the future of state power in Africa.

Subject Term:

Power (Social sciences) -- Africa.

Geographic Term:

Africa -- Politics and government.

Electronic Access:

Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/prin021/99041736.html
Table of contents http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/prin032/99041736.html

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168015744754	303.3096 H538S 2000	1	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Theories of international relations, assumed to be universally applicable, have failed to explain the creation of states in Africa. There, the interaction of power and space is dramatically different from what occurred in Europe. In his groundbreaking book, Jeffrey Herbst places the African state-building process in a truly comparative perspective, examining the problem of state consolidation from the precolonial period, through the short but intense interlude of European colonialism, to the modern era of independent states. Herbst's bold contention--that the conditions now facing African state-builders existed long before European penetration of the continent--is sure to provoke controversy, for it runs counter to the prevailing assumption that colonialism changed everything.

In identifying how the African state-building process differs from the European experience, Herbst addresses the fundamental problem confronting African leaders: how to extend authority over sparsely settled lands. Indeed, efforts to exert control over vast, inhospitable territories of low population density and varied environmental and geographical zones have resulted in devastating wars, millions of refugees, and dysfunctional governments perpetrating destructive policies.

Detailing the precise political calculations of distinct African leaders, Herbst isolates the basic dynamics of African state development. In analyzing how these leaders have attempted to consolidate power, he is able to evaluate a variety of policy alternatives for dealing with the fundamental political challenges facing African states today.