The Crisis of the State and Regionalism in West Africa: Identity, Citizenship and Conflict
Edited by W. Alade Fawole and Charles Ukeje
Published 2005; ISBN 2-86978-166-0 240 pages
‘A new generation of West African social scientists takes on a new generation of postcolonial problems and possibilities – transitional justice, regional integration and collective security, refugee flows, and the complex interplay
of local identities, state institutions and global forces. Theoretically informed and publicly engaged scholarship!’
Ron Kassimir, Program Director, SSRC, USA
‘This volume on a deeply troubled yet blessed part of Africa weaves together a complex interface of history, democracy, identity, conflict and reconciliation in the West African sub-region. Refreshingly illuminating in theoretical
and empirical depth, the book addresses cutting edge precepts, processes and prospects provoked by citizenship, identity politics and conflict in the often unpredictable search for democracy that works. An indispensable addition to the libraries of those concerned about the future of the state in contemporary West Africa’.
Professor Adigun A.B. Agbaje, Dean, Faculty of the Social Sciences University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
West Africa, with its large number of mini-states, has suffered more political misfortunes than any other sub-region of Africa. No doubt, the glaring artificiality of the post-colonial state, coupled with the failure of the local
ruling elites to rise above the limitations of their provenance, is to blame for the myriad crises. The sub-region has been plagued by one-party authoritarianism, violent coups and military dictatorship, leading to the progressive alienation of the people from the state, and thus raising the critical issues of identity and citizenship which are at the base of political
crisis and conflict. Many decades after independence, the sub-region continues to grapple with the problems of intra-state conflict, political instability, state failure and outright collapse, thus calling into question the viability and survivability of the Westphalian state model in Africa. Collectively, West African states are still in search of democratic
nationhood.
The book critically interrogates the internal dimensions of the identity and citizenship conflicts at the root of state crisis and the steps so far taken to tackle them. Scholars and students of contemporary African politics and development as well as
policy makers should find much of relevance in this well researched volume.
W. Alade Fawole is currently a professor in the Department of International Relations, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from George Washington
University, USA. He specializes in Nigerian politics and foreign policy, an area in which he has published a number of books.
Charles Ukeje, Ph.D. is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of International Relations, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Contents
|
Introduction
W. Alade Fawole and Charles Ukeje | 1 |
| Part I |
The Crisis of the State in West Africa Identity, Citizenship and Conflict: The African Experience
Said Adejumobi | 19 |
The State in West Africa: The Crisis of Production,
Democracy and National Identity
Abeeku Essuman-Johnson | 45 |
Colonial History and the Search for Democratic Nationhood: The Case of Anglophone West Africa
W. Alade Fawole | 57 |
The Construction of a Leviathan: State Building, Identity Formation and Political Stability in Nigeria
Austine Ikelegbe | 71 |
Drama and the Quest for Democracy in Post-Colonial Nigeria: Notions, Reflections and Prospects
Gbemisola Remi Adeoti | 93 |
National Reconciliation or Polarisation? Preliminary Reflections on the Politics of the Ghana
National Reconciliation Commission
Kwame Boafo-Arthur | 105 |
Truth Without Reconciliation: The Niger Delta and the Continuing Challenge of National Reconciliation
Kiipoye K. Aaron | 127 |
|
Part II |
The Contradictions of Regionalism in
West Africa: From Economic Cooperation to Collective Security: ECOWAS and the Changing Imperatives of Sub-Regionalism in West Africa
Charles Ukeje | 141 |
Taking Regionalism a step further: The Need to Involve the Household in the Development of the West African Region
Yomi Oruwari | 161 |
Civil Wars and the Refugee Crisis in West Africa: A Case Study of Liberian Refugees in Nigeria
Sikiru Taiwo Kassim | 175 |
Can ECOWAS Re-invent the Nationalist Dream in West Africa? Reflections on the Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance
Amadu Sesay | 191 |
| Bibliography | 211 |
ISBN 2-86978-166-0 Africa: US$20.00, 10000CFA; Elsewhere: £16.95 /$29.95
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