This study explores a range of dynamics in state-society relations which are crucial to an understanding of the contemporary world: processes of state formation, collapse and restructuring, all strongly influenced by globalization in its various respects. The themes addressed include strategies of state construction, and trajectories of state decline, collapse and re-start, the politics of statelessness and the dynamics of identity and power. Particular attention is given to externally orchestrated state restructuring and to the varying capacities of state systems in the South to cope with the impact of global forces.

Forests, on the ground and in social theory, are now highly contested spaces, the arenas of struggles and conflicts, in which both trees and forest-dwellers frequently find themselves on the losing side. Focusing on the forests of Africa, Asia and Latin America, this volume highlights four dimensions: the array of ongoing conflicts and movements at the local level, involving a wide spectrum of stakeholders with diverse interests; the rise of wider national, regional and global concerns over the destruction of forests; debates over the use and abuse of Nature; and possible 'solutions' to the problems of forests and those who live in and depend upon them. The papers in the collection are based on recent field research, rich in detail and nuanced in interpretation. They call into question many received wisdoms, discovering unexpected twists and turns in forest paths, life cycles or landscape trajectories, and highlighting the complex articulations of local processes and global forces in tropical forest struggles.

This study explores a range of dynamics in state-society relations which are crucial to an understanding of the contemporary world: processes of state formation, collapse and restructuring, all strongly influenced by globalization in its various respects. Particular attention is given to externally orchestrated state restructuring.