Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
African Conflicts and Informal Power: Big Men and Networks

African Conflicts and Informal Power: Big Men and Networks

Christensen, Maya Mynster
Vlassenroot, Koen
Anders, Gerhard

Hardcover

Series: Africa Now

African HistoryGeneral Political Science

ISBN10: 1848138830
ISBN13: 9781848138834
Publisher: Zed Books
Published: Mar 8 2012
Pages: 264
Weight: 1.15
Height: 0.80 Width: 6.10 Depth: 9.20
Language: English

In the aftermath of an armed conflict in Africa, the international community both produces and demands from local partners a variety of blueprints for reconstructing state and society. The aim is to re-formalize the state after what is viewed as a period of fragmentation. In reality, African economies and polities are very much informal in character, with informal actors, including so-called Big Men, often using their positions in the formal structure as a means to reach their own goals.

Through a variety of in-depth case studies, including the DRC, Sierra Leone and Liberia, this comprehensive volume shows how important informal political and economic networks are in many of the continent's conflict areas. Moreover, it demonstrates that without a proper understanding of the impact of these networks, attempts to formalize African states, particularly those emerging from wars, will be in vain.

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