Contemporary West African States [Paperback]

A provocative contribution to the debate on the nature of the state and political processes in Africa.Up-to-date studies of nine states, previously neglected in the exhaustive West African States (CUP 1978), are supplemented by contemporary theories of West African politics.Up-to-date studies of nine states, previously neglected in the exhaustive West African States (CUP 1978), are supplemented by contemporary theories of West African politics.The West African states have reached maturity. This new volume--appearing a decade after the successful West African States: Failure and Promise--provides up-to-date studies of nine states, including Chad, Burkina Faso and Cameroon, which were neglected in the earlier volume, and introduces contemporary theories of West African politics. The book reflects changes on the ground and also in academic debate, notably the remarkable retreat of dependency theory and Marxian analysis and the rise of free-market theorizing by both governments and scholars. The volume also contains important observations on the political importance of religious fundamentalism in the region, and the growth of subnational forms of political activity. The writers are well-known scholars in the field, and include contributors to the influential journal Politique Africaine. This will be a useful textbook for everyone interested in African politics, but it is also a provocative contribution to the debate on the nature of the state and political processes in Africa.List of contributors; Preface; 1. Introduction Donal B. Cruise O'Brien and Richard Rathbone; 2. Burkino Faso: between feeble and state and total state, the swing continues Rene Otayek; 3. Cameroon Jean-Francois Bayart; 4. Chad: the narrow escape of an African state, 19651987 Robert Buijtenhuijs; 5. Cote d'Ivoire: analysing the crisis Yves A. Faure; 6. Ghana: the political economy of personal rule Richard Jeffries; 7. Liberia Christopher Clapham; 8. Nigeria: power for profit: class, corporatisl#É