The State in Africa
The State in Africa is one of the important and compelling texts of comparative politics and historical sociology of the last twenty years. Bayart rejects the assumption of African 'otherness' based on stereotyped images of famine, corruption and civil war. Instead he invites the reader to see that African politics is like politics anywhere else in the world, not an exotic aberration.\ Africans themselves speak of a 'politics of the belly' - an expression that refers not only to the...
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The State in Africa is one of the important and compelling texts of comparative politics and historical sociology of the last twenty years. Bayart rejects the assumption of African 'otherness' based on stereotyped images of famine, corruption and civil war. Instead he invites the reader to see that African politics is like politics anywhere else in the world, not an exotic aberration. Africans themselves speak of a 'politics of the belly' - an expression that refers not only to the necessities of survival but also to a complex array of cultural representations, notably those of the 'invisible' world of sorcery. The 'politics of the belly' attests to a distinctively African trajectory of power that we need to understand as part of a long-term historical development. While acknowledging the insights of Western social scientists from Weber to Foucault, Bayart never loses sight of the realities of African politics and social life and he is careful to allow African voices - from the 'small boy' in the street to the 'big men' in the presidential palaces - to speak for themselves. This new edition of Bayart's classic book includes a new introduction on Africa in the world today. This book has established itself as an indispensable text on the state and politics in Africa. It also provides a nuanced reading of what we have come to call 'development' and opens the way for a more general reflection on the invention of politics in African and Asian societies.
Foreword viNotice viiiPreface to the Second English edition xPreface to the first English edition lxxvPreface to the original French edition lxxxiiiIntroduction: The Historicity of African Societies 1Part 1 The Genesis of the State1 The Shadow Theatre of Ethnicity 412 The Unequal State: 'Little Men' and 'Big Men' 603 The Bourgeois Illusion 874 The Opportunity State 104Part 2 Scenarios in the Pursuit of Hegemony5 Conservative Modernisation or Social Revolution? The Extreme Scenarios 1196 The Reciprocal Assimilation of Elites: The Hypothesis of an Intermediate Scenario 1507 The Formation of a Postcolonial Historic Bloc 180Part 3 Political Action8 Entrepreneurs, Factions and Political Networks 2079 The Politics of the Belly 228Conclusion: Of Terroirs and Men 260Notes 273Index 360
