Author: Anders Themnér
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1783602503
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 266
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Book Description
Post-war democratization has been identified as a crucial mechanism to build peace in war-ridden societies, supposedly allowing belligerents to compete through ballots rather than bullets. A byproduct of this process, however, is that military leaders often become an integral part of the new democratic system, using resources and networks generated from the previous war to dominate the emerging political landscape. The crucial and thus-far overlooked question to be addressed, therefore, is what effect the inclusion of ex-militaries into electoral politics has on post-war security. Can 'warlord democrats' make a positive contribution by shepherding their wartime constituencies to support the building of peace and democracy, or are they likely to use their electoral platforms to sponsor political violence and keep war-affected communities mobilized through aggressive discourses? This important volume, containing a wealth of fresh empirical detail and theoretical insight, and focussing on some of Africa's most high-profile political figures – from Paul Kagame to Riek Machar to Afonso Dhlakama – represents a crucial intervention in the literature of post-war democratization.
Author: Anders Themnér
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
ISBN: 1783602511
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 380
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Book Description
Post-war democratization has been identified as a crucial mechanism to build peace in war-ridden societies, supposedly allowing belligerents to compete through ballots rather than bullets. A byproduct of this process, however, is that military leaders often become an integral part of the new democratic system, using resources and networks generated from the previous war to dominate the emerging political landscape. The crucial and thus-far overlooked question to be addressed, therefore, is what effect the inclusion of ex-militaries into electoral politics has on post-war security. Can 'warlord democrats' make a positive contribution by shepherding their wartime constituencies to support the building of peace and democracy, or are they likely to use their electoral platforms to sponsor political violence and keep war-affected communities mobilized through aggressive discourses? This important volume, containing a wealth of fresh empirical detail and theoretical insight, and focussing on some of Africa's most high-profile political figures – from Paul Kagame to Riek Machar to Afonso Dhlakama – represents a crucial intervention in the literature of post-war democratization.
Author: Johnny Dwyer
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307474992
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 386
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Book Description
The incredible true story of Chucky Taylor, the only American ever convicted of torture. Chucky Taylor was an average American teenager, until he got a call from his father, a man who would become the infamous dictator of Liberia. Arriving in West Africa and reunited with his father, Chucky soon found himself leading a murderous militia group tasked with carrying out the president’s vendettas. Young and drunk on power, and with no real training beyond watching action films, Chucky spiraled into a binge of drugs, violence, and women, committing crimes that stunned even his father. A work of astonishing journalism, American Warlord is the true story of those dark years in Liberia, cutting right to the bone of humanity’s terrifying and unknowable capacity for cruelty to show just how easily a soul can be lost amid the chaos of war.
Author: AA.VV.
Publisher: Ledizioni
ISBN: 8855260863
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 116
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Book Description
Political leadership can be a crucial ingredient for the development of sub-Saharan Africa. The region has been going through important transformations, with both political landscapes and economic trajectories becoming increasingly diverse. The changes underway include the role of leadership and its broader impact. This volume argues that, on the whole, African leaders and the way they reach power generally do contribute to shaping their countries' progresses and achievements. It also zooms in on some influential African leaders who recently emerged in key states across the continent, illustrating and explaining the individual paths that brought them to power while reflecting on the prospects for their governments' actions. Far from the simplistic stereotypes of immovable, ineffective and greedy rulers, the resulting picture reveals dynamic and rapidly evolving political scenarios with key implications for development in the region.
Author: Henning Melber
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1783607157
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 231
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Book Description
Across Africa, a burgeoning middle class has become the poster child for the 'Africa rising' narrative. Ambitious, aspirational and increasingly affluent, this group is said to embody the values and hopes of the new Africa, with international bodies ranging from the United Nations Development Programme to the World Bank regarding them as important agents of both economic development and democratic change. This narrative, however, obscures the complex and often ambiguous role that this group actually plays in African societies. Bringing together economists, political scientists, anthropologists and development experts, and spanning a variety of case studies from across the continent, this collection provides a much-needed corrective to the received wisdom within development circles, and provides a fresh perspective on social transformations in contemporary Africa.
Author: Laura Stark
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1786993465
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 265
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Book Description
Urban Africa is undergoing a transformation unlike anywhere else in the world, as unprecedented numbers of people migrate to rapidly expanding cities. But despite the growing body of work on urban Africa, the lives of these new city dwellers have received relatively little attention, particularly when it comes to crucial issues of power and inequality. This interdisciplinary collection brings together contributions from urban studies, geography, and anthropology to provide new insights into the social and political dynamics of African cities, as well as uncovering the causes and consequences of urban inequality. Featuring rich new ethnographic research data and case studies drawn from across the continent, the collection shows that Africa's new urbanites have adapted to their environs in ways which often defy the assumptions of urban planners. By examining the experiences of these urban residents in confronting issues of power and agency, the contributors consider how such insights can inform more effective approaches to research, city planning and development both in Africa and beyond.
Author: Doctor Paul Higate
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
ISBN: 178699027X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258
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Book Description
Across Africa, growing economic inequality, instability and urbanization have led to the rapid spread of private security providers. While these PSPs have already had a significant impact on African societies, their impact has so far received little in the way of comprehensive analysis. Drawing on a wide range of disciplinary approaches, and encompassing anthropology, sociology and political science, Private Security in Africa offers unique insight into the lives and experiences of security providers and those affected by them, as well as into the fragile state context which has allowed them to thrive. Featuring original empirical research and case studies ranging from private policing in South Africa to the recruitment of Sierra Leoneans for private security work in Iraq, the book considers the full implications of PSPs for security and the state, not only for Africa but for the world as a whole.
Author:
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350299529
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289
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Book Description
Bringing together African and international scholars, this book gives an account of the present state of the discipline of political science in Africa - generating insights into its present and future trajectories, and assessing the freedom with which it is practiced. Tackling subjects including the decolonization of the discipline, political scientists as public intellectuals, and the teaching of political science, this diverse range of perspectives paints a detailed picture of the impact and relevance of the political science discipline on the continent during the struggles for democratization, and the influence it continues to exert today.
Author: Mary Njeri Kinyanjui
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
ISBN: 1780326335
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224
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Book Description
In this highly original work, Mary Njeri Kinyanjui explores the trajectory of women's movement from the margins of urbanization into the centres of business activities in Nairobi and its accompanying implications for urban planning. While women in much of Africa have struggled to gain urban citizenship and continue to be weighed down by poor education, low income and confinement to domestic responsibilities due to patriarchic norms, a new form of urban dynamism - partly informed by the informal economy - is now enabling them to manage poverty, create jobs and link to the circuits of capital and labour. Relying on social ties, reciprocity, sharing and collaboration, women's informal 'solidarity entrepreneurialism' is taking them away from the margins of business activity and catapulting them into the centre. Bringing together key issues of gender, economic informality and urban planning in Africa, Kinyanjui demonstrates that women have become a critical factor in the making of a postcolonial city.
Author: Emeka Umejei
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1498593976
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 143
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Book Description
Chinese Media in Africa: Perception, Performance, and Paradox analyzes the debate on Chinese media expansion in Africa and its implication for the African media landscape by engaging with African journalists who train and work in Chinese media organizations based in Africa. Emeka Umejei analyzes how African journalists that enter the sphere of Chinese media, often with libertarian notions of journalism, are able to navigate the collisions and collusions that inform journalism in these settings. Through extensive interviews with African journalists, Umejei explores the constant negotiation of freedoms—including the ability to always work in relation to African reality—within state-controlled media organizations. These interviews bring to light the paradoxical nature of Chinese media organizations that both preach equality with Africa and simultaneously promote Chinese hegemony in the media, highlighting the diverse contours that shape and influence journalism practices in these settings. Scholars of journalism, media studies, African studies, international relations, and sociology will find this book particularly useful.
