|
Showing 1 - 3 of
3 matches in All Departments
This book contends that the quest to secure community self-rule
represents a central human value - the belief in a basic and
fundamental right to local autonomy. The universal nature of this
value suggests that a right to local control should be accepted and
embraced as an international human right. Perspectives from
different academic fields of study are woven together to show how
rural villagers, residents of large cities, environmental defenders
and 'home rule' proponents have struggled to oppose the forces of
globalization and of nation-state predominance.
Combines the use of primary and secondary sources, as well as
modern political theory to show the resilience of this often
overlooked country. In this impressive work Forrest examines a
significant and overlooked aspect of Guinea-Bissau's political
evolution: the continuing ability of civil society to evade and
thwart state power. The work identifies the social formations that
account for civil societal strength and analyses the socially,
politically, and militarily significant experiences of rural civil
society to account for the social origins of Guinea-Bissau's soft
state. North America: Ohio U Press
In Guinea-Bissau, as elsewhere in Africa, there is a disjuncture
between the central state and rural civil society. It is this
significant and overlooked aspect of Guinea-Bissau's political
evolution--the continuing ability of civil society to evade and
thwart state power--that is at the heart of Joshua B. Forrest's "
Lineages of State Fragility."
Professor Forrest argues that despite European influences, the
contemporary fragility of African states can be fully appreciated
only by examining the indigenous social context in which these
states evolved. Focusing on Guinea-Bissau, Forrest exposes the
emergence of a strong and adaptable "rural civil society" that can
be traced back to precolonial times.
"Lineages of State Fragility" analyzes the social, political, and
military experiences of this rural civil society to account for the
origins of Guinea-Bissau's soft state. For example, Forrest
identifies interethnic social and military practices that became
entrenched in rural social structures and continued to evolve
through the colonial period, enabling Guinea-Bissauans to resist
state predation.
"Lineages of State Fragility" offers an unorthodox explanation of
African politics by tracing the direct social links among the
precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial periods and affirms the
role of rural actors in determining present-day political outcomes.
Based on remarkably extensive research conducted in archives in
Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and Portugal, " Lineages of State
Fragility" represents both a new approach to the region's past and
present and an important synthesis of the political analysis that
has come before.
|
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.