Contentious Politics, Local Governance and the Self

Contentious Politics, Local Governance and the Self PDF Author: Tim Kelsall
Publisher: Nordic Africa Institute
ISBN: 9789171065339
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 84

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Book Description
The Governance Agenda is the framework that currently organizes the West’s relations with Africa. The present work is an attempt to see Governance through the lens of a contemporary, local history. The report analyzes three periods of contentious politics at local level in Tanzania and two multi-party elections. It provides a window on mismanagement in local government, it examines the intervention by national and local elites in district conflicts, and it points to the difficulties ordinary people face in holding their leaders to account. The argument of the report is that current approaches to the study of Governance overlook an essential ingredient for its potential success: namely, the sociological conditions in which forms of collective action conducive to improved political accountability become possible at a grassroots level. The analysis aims to show that economic diversification and multiple livelihoods have given rise to a reticular social structure in which individuals find it difficult to combine to hold their leaders to account. People have fragmented identities formed in networks of social relations, which impedes the emergence of strong collective identities appropriate to effective social movements.

Contentious Politics, Local Governance and the Self

Contentious Politics, Local Governance and the Self PDF Author: Tim Kelsall
Publisher: Nordic Africa Institute
ISBN: 9789171065339
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 84

Get Book

Book Description
The Governance Agenda is the framework that currently organizes the West’s relations with Africa. The present work is an attempt to see Governance through the lens of a contemporary, local history. The report analyzes three periods of contentious politics at local level in Tanzania and two multi-party elections. It provides a window on mismanagement in local government, it examines the intervention by national and local elites in district conflicts, and it points to the difficulties ordinary people face in holding their leaders to account. The argument of the report is that current approaches to the study of Governance overlook an essential ingredient for its potential success: namely, the sociological conditions in which forms of collective action conducive to improved political accountability become possible at a grassroots level. The analysis aims to show that economic diversification and multiple livelihoods have given rise to a reticular social structure in which individuals find it difficult to combine to hold their leaders to account. People have fragmented identities formed in networks of social relations, which impedes the emergence of strong collective identities appropriate to effective social movements.

Local Government in North Carolina

Local Government in North Carolina PDF Author: Gordon P. Whitaker
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Local government
Languages : en
Pages : 120

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Book Description


Rightful Resistance in Rural China

Rightful Resistance in Rural China PDF Author: Kevin J. O'Brien
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139450980
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 5

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Book Description
How can the poor and weak 'work' a political system to their advantage? Drawing mainly on interviews and surveys in rural China, Kevin O'Brien and Lianjiang Li show that popular action often hinges on locating and exploiting divisions within the state. Otherwise powerless people use the rhetoric and commitments of the central government to try to fight misconduct by local officials, open up clogged channels of participation, and push back the frontiers of the permissible. This 'rightful resistance' has far-reaching implications for our understanding of contentious politics. As O'Brien and Li explore the origins, dynamics, and consequences of rightful resistance, they highlight similarities between collective action in places as varied as China, the former East Germany, and the United States, while suggesting how Chinese experiences speak to issues such as opportunities to protest, claims radicalization, tactical innovation, and the outcomes of contention.

The African Exception

The African Exception PDF Author: Ulf Engel
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351147900
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
Governance has become an important concept in the politics of African development. It is therefore a crucial concept for social science analyses focusing on Africa. In public discourse Africa's future is being shaped by a combination of external interventions backed by African elites who cooperate with the donors, whose understanding of the importance of 'good governance' they share. This groundbreaking book disentangles the analytical aspects of governance from its political and normative connotations. The 'African exception' - the difference in 'development' between Africa and other regions of the South - can be understood by analysis focusing upon the specific forms of governance played out in politics and economics. The perspective of neo-patrimonialism is crucial but not sufficient here. The first section of the book explores African governance in two functional spheres: the political realm and the economic. Section two looks at new areas of governance in Africa: violent social spaces, HIV/AIDS and entrepreneurial urban governance.

On Civil Liberty and Self-government

On Civil Liberty and Self-government PDF Author: Francis Lieber
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Democracy
Languages : en
Pages : 644

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Book Description


Power Dynamics in African Forests

Power Dynamics in African Forests PDF Author: Symphorien Ongolo
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1003834981
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
This book addresses historical perspectives and contemporary challenges of the politics of forestland governance and the related sustainability crisis in Africa. It focusses on the power dynamics between key actors involved in the governance of forest-related resources either for their exploitation or with regards to biodiversity conservation policies promoted at international arenas. The book provides conceptual and empirical contributions on what happens when global sustainability agendas and the related policy instruments meet the realities of domestic politics in Africa. It reveals that several actors in forest-rich countries, especially those with limited sovereignty, have often employed complex informal strategies as the ‘weapon of the weak’ to resist the domination of the most powerful actors of global environmental politics.

The Political Economy of Aid and Accountability

The Political Economy of Aid and Accountability PDF Author: Helen Tilley
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317020863
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
The provision of aid is increasingly under scrutiny with increasing demands for results. This raises the question: what are our expectations from aid and are they realistic? Too often accountability is argued for without questioning if what is understood by the term is relevant or applicable. The Political Economy of Aid and Accountability: The Rise and Fall of Budget Support in Tanzania explores the real meaning of accountability and argues for a new approach to aid more relevant to recipient countries. Offering fresh, insightful ideas Helen Tilley presents a contemporary theory of accountability through a case study of the delivery of general budget support in Tanzania. By considering the wider system of often contradictory political and social relations that influence and in turn constrain donor-government relations she questions the traditional understanding of accountability and deconstructs its epistemological assumptions. Engaging in an interdisciplinary discussion drawing upon economics, sociology, political science, anthropology, psychology and philosophy the book constructs a modern and nuanced understanding of accountability and foreign aid.

Business, Politics, and the State in Africa

Business, Politics, and the State in Africa PDF Author: Doctor Tim Kelsall
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
ISBN: 1780323336
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
In recent years Africa appears to have turned a corner economically. It is posting increased growth rates and is no longer the world's slowest growing region. Commentators are beginning to ask whether emerging from Africa is a new generation of 'lion' economies to challenge the East Asian 'tigers'? This book goes behind the headlines to examine the conditions necessary not just for growth in Africa but for a wider business and economic transformation. Contrary to neoliberal economics, it argues that governments can play an important role in this through selective interventions to correct market failures, and, controversially, that neo-patrimonial governance need not be an obstacle to improved business and economic conditions. Drawing on a variety of timely case studies - including Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Ghana - this provocative book provides a radical new theory of the political and institutional conditions required for pro-poor growth in Africa.

Dynamics of Contention

Dynamics of Contention PDF Author: Doug McAdam
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521011877
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
"Over the past two decades the study of social movements, revolution, democratization and other non-routine politics has flourished. And yet research on the topic remains highly fragmented, reflecting the influence of at least three traditional divisions. The first of these reflects the view that various forms of contention are distinct and should be studied independent of others. Separate literatures have developed around the study of social movements, revolutions and industrial conflict. A second approach to the study of political contention denies the possibility of general theory in deference to a grounding in the temporal and spatial particulars of any given episode of contention. The study of contentious politics are left to 'area specialists' and/or historians with a thorough knowledge of the time and place in question. Finally, overlaid on these two divisions are stylized theoretical traditions - structuralist, culturalist, and rationalist - that have developed largely in isolation from one another." http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/cam021/2001016172.html.

Contentious Politics in China

Contentious Politics in China PDF Author: Manfred Elfstrom
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004425128
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 96

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Book Description
In this volume, Manfred Elfstrom and Yao Li provide an in-depth overview of Chinese contentious politics. They examine why protest occurs in China, how it plays out, how authorities react to it, and what social and political implications it has.