Drawing on the interdisciplinary research projects of scholars from various social science and humanities disciplines, this book explores how African migration to Western countries after the neo-liberal economic reforms of the 1980s transformed West African states and their new transnational populations in Western countries.

The democratic transition processes in Africa since the 1990s have carried great hopes and expectations about 'civil society' and ambivalence about the state. This book explores the complex interactions between state fragility, self-help, and self organization in Nigeria. Nigeria's associational life is highly developed and multifaceted, reaching far beyond 'civil society organizations' (CSOs) or non-governmental organizations (NGOs). There is a 'third sector' within civil society that encompasses a spectrum extending from community-based forms of self-help to ethnic or religious representation, and even militias. Some self organization formations have narrow, pragmatic aims. Others have an explicit socio-cultural or political agenda. Many respond to, and cope with consequences of the Nigerian state's inability to deliver services and provide functioning regulatory frameworks. Examining and analyzing the emergence of broader forms of civil society, the book considers its roots, dynamics and successes, but also pinpoints its costs, ambivalences, and contradictions. Despite strong traditions of self-organization in Nigeria, many pressure groups, organizations defending rights, independent policy consultants and other structures known as 'civil society organizations' are also dependent on foreign aid. The book contributes to deliberations on the relationship between state and civil society in Nigeria, Africa, and globally.

The dawn of neoliberal rationality in Africa in the 1980s coincided with a massive exodus of skilled Africans to the global North. Moving beyond the 'push and pull' framework that has dominated studies of this phenomenon, this collection instead looks at African transnational migrations against the backdrop of rapid and intensifying globalization.

This book addresses the meanings and implications of self-organization and state society relations in contemporary Nigerian politics. The conventional wisdom in public choice theory is that self-organization could generate collective action problems, via the tragedy of the commons, or the prisoner's dilemma, or a condition akin to Hobbes' state of nature, where selfish interests produce social conflict rather than cooperation. In the absence or unwillingness of the state to provide such services, entire communities in Nigeria have had to band together to repair roads, build health centers, repair broken transformers owned by the public utilities company, all from levies. Consideration of post-authoritarian state-civil society relations in Nigeria began in a situation where the state was deeply embroiled in a morass of economic and political crises, further complicating these relations, and lending urgency to questions about state capacity, as well as the nature of the relationship between state and civil society, and their implication for the social, economic and political health and well being of the democratizing polity and its citizens.

Drawing on the interdisciplinary research projects of scholars from various social science and humanities disciplines, this book explores how African migration to Western countries after the neo-liberal economic reforms of the 1980s transformed West African states and their new transnational populations in Western countries.

In public choice theory, the received wisdom has long been that self-organization is an impediment to collective action, whether via the tragedy of the commons or a Hobbesian scenario in which self-interest produces social conflict rather than cooperation. Yet as this fascinating collection shows, self-organization and state-society relations have been much more complicated in the context of contemporary Nigerian politics. Given the absence or unwillingness of the Nigerian state to provide essential services, entire communities have had to band together to repair roads, build health centers, and maintain public utilities, all from levies. The successes, failures, and ongoing challenges faced by Nigerian society provide valuable insights into the state's capacity, its relationship with civil society, and the social, economic, and political well-being of its citizens.

Since the 1990s, attempts at democratic transition have generated hopes for 'civil society' as well as ambivalence about the state. The interdisciplinary studies gathered here explore this dynamic through the complex interactions of state fragility, self-help, and self-organization in Nigeria. Nigeria stands as a particularly interesting case, as its multifaceted associational life extends far beyond civil society organizations (CSOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs): as this volume reveals, there is a 'third sector' of Nigerian society encompassing everything from community self-help programs to ethno-religious affiliations to militias. Some of these formations have narrow, pragmatic aims, while others have an explicit socio-cultural or political agenda; most can be understood as compensating for the state's failure to deliver services and maintain regulatory frameworks. By examining the emergence of broader forms of civil society, this volume considers their successes while also assessing their costs and contradictions.

The dawn of neoliberal rationality in Africa in the 1980s coincided with a massive exodus of skilled Africans to the global North. Moving beyond the 'push and pull' framework that has dominated studies of this phenomenon, this collection instead looks at African transnational migrations against the backdrop of rapid and intensifying globalization.