Negotiating Statehood. Dynamics of Power and Domination in Africa

Negotiating Statehood presents a new conceptual framework that reveals how state and non-state actors forge statehood in Africa, where these processes occur, and what configurations of state and political authority they produce. A collection of essays from a group of international experts provides a nuanced understanding of the multiple actors, arenas, and repertoires that reproduce and recreate statehood. Empirical and analytical insights into these processes are provided by examining the evolution of statehood in eight different African countries: Democratic Republic of Congo-Uganda, Namibia, Ethiopia, Angola, Guinea, Mozambique, Côte d'Ivoire, and Somaliland. Essays draw attention to contested institutional processes that defy Western state models and, instead, underline the lively and partly undetermined processes of state failure and formation in Africa. With deep scholarly rigor, Negotiating Statehood offers a wealth of illuminating insights into the myriad forces that shape and define the development of statehood, both in contemporary Africa and beyond.