State failure in sub-Saharan Africa : the crisis of post-colonial order / Catherine Scott.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Scott, Catherine, active 2017, author.

Series:

International library of African studies ; 55.

International library of African studies ; 55

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Failed states--Africa, Sub-Saharan.

Failed states.

Africa, Sub-Saharan--Politics and government--1960-.

Africa, Sub-Saharan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (252 pages) : maps

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017.

Summary:

"How should failed states in Africa be understood? Catherine Scott here critically engages with the concept of state failure and provides an historical reinterpretation. She shows that, although the concept emerged in the context of the post-Cold War new world order, the phenomenon has been attendant throughout (and even before) the development of the Westphalian state system. Contemporary failed states, however, differ from their historical counterparts in one fundamental respect: they fail within their existing borders and continue to be recognised as something that they are not. This peculiarity derives from international norms instituted in the era of decolonisation, which resulted in the inviolability of state borders and the supposed universality of statehood. Scott argues that contemporary failed states are, in fact, failed post-colonies. Thus understood, state failure is less the failure of existing states and more the failed rooting and institutionalisation of imported and reified models of Western statehood. Drawing on insights from the histories of Uganda and Burundi, from pre-colonial polity formation to the present day, she explores why and how there have been failures to create effective and legitimate national states within the bounds of inherited colonial jurisdictions on much of the African continent."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Contents:

1. Introduction: Genealogies of State Failure

2. The Failings of the Failed State 'Thesis'

3. The State and its Failure in Sub-Saharan Africa

4. Burundi: The Freezing of a Failed Kingdom

5. Uganda: A Foundational Failure and Post-Colonial Revival

6. Concluding Reflections.

Notes:

Compliant with Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Content is displayed as HTML full text which can easily be resized or read with assistive technology, with mark-up that allows screen readers and keyboard-only users to navigate easily.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781350988224

1350988227

9781786732101

1786732106

9781786722102

1786722100

OCLC:

1114483498