A socialist peace? : explaining the absence of war in an African country / Mike McGovern.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McGovern, Mike, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Guinea--Politics and government--1958-1984.

Guinea.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xxi, 249 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2017.

Summary:

For the last twenty years, the West African nation of Guinea has exhibited all the characteristics that have correlated with civil wars in other countries, and Guineans themselves regularly talk about the inevitability of war tearing their country apart. Yet the country has narrowly avoided civil conflict again and again. Mike McGovern asks how this was possible, how a nation could beat the odds and evade civil war. All six of Guinea's neighbors have experienced civil war or separatist insurgency in the past twenty years. Guinea itself has similar makings for it. It is rich in resources, yet its people are some of the poorest in the world. Its political situation is polarized by fiercely competitive ethnic groups. Weapons flow freely through its lands and across its borders. And, finally, it is still recovering from the oppressive regime of Sekou Toure. Yet it is that aspect which McGovern points to: while Toure's reign was hardly peaceful, it was successful often through highly coercive and violent measures at establishing a set of durable national dispositions, which have kept the nation at peace. Exploring the ambivalences of contemporary Guineans toward the afterlife of Tour 's reign as well as their abiding sense of socialist solidarity, McGovern sketches the paradoxes that can undergird political stability.

Contents:

1 Explaining the Absence of War 1

A? 4

Socialist? 5

Peace? 7

Orientations toward the Future 10

Temporality and the Legacies of Social ism in Africa 14

Counterfactual Arguments and Anthropology's Advantages 17

Choosing War 24

Chapters 28

Part I Resentment

2 "Those Who Eat Monkey Will Never Rule over Us" 35

The Setting 38

The Interplay of Stereotypes 43

A Troubled Succession, 1984 46

Religion and Politics in West Africa, 1800-1958 49

The Ethnic Calculus, 1350-90 51

Disgust and Political Exclusion 57

From Autochthony to Culture 61

"It's Our Turn" 63

Conclusion 67

Interlude: Palm Wine and Ethnic Cleansing 69

3 Articulating Betrayal 72

Case Study: N'Zérékoré, 1991 74

Secrecy, Trust, and Betrayal 80

Narratives of Betrayal 83

From Words to Acts 99

Conclusion 103

Part II War Averted?

4 An Exceptional Case: The Killings in Nuvanuita 109

Case Study "Nuvanuita," October 2000 113

Socialist State Practices and Their Legacies 119

Macenta as Microcosm 126

Conclusion 128

Part III Afterlives

Interlude: "I'm not putting my life on the line ..." 135

5 The Rhetoric of Counterinsurgency 136

Case Study: The Antirefugee Attacks of September 2000 139

Postsocialist Publics and Counterpublics 146

The Touré Legacy: Semantic, Rhetorical, and Organizational 152

6 The Symbolic Death of Sékou Touré 165

The General Strikes of 2006-7 167

The Death of the Rather: The Afterlife of a Socialist Regime 172

The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of Trade Unionism in Guinea 178

The Two Bodies of the King and the Timing of the Strikes 182

Conclusion 184

Interlude: Ga li? 188

7 The Cinquantenaire and the Dadis Show 189

The Annual Ceremony, 2008 191

Following the Money 194

"La Vérité Finira Toujours par Triompher un Jour" 196

A Musical Interlude 200

The Dadis Show 202

The September Massacre and the Resurgence of Disgust 207

Conclusion 211

8 Conclusion 213

The Current Slate of Play 216

On Sacrifice and Suffering 220.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780226453576

022645357X

9780226453606

022645360X

OCLC:

958780854