23.03.09
Theorising African States: The Case of Angola from a Critical Theory Perspective
NUPI-rapport | Oslo, NUPI | 117 sider
Denne oppgaven tar et kritisk blikk på bruken av statsbegrepet i en afrikansk kontekst. Forfatteren foreslår en ny teoretisk tilnærming basert på en syntese av Robert W. Cox og Mahmood Mamdanis teorier, og bruker staten i Angola som case for å illustrere dette argumentet.
>> Summary
This thesis is a theoretical contribution to the debate about statehood in Sub-Saharan Africa. I aim to interrogate the use of the state concept on the continent, and to open up new theoretical avenues to analyse the state. My starting point has been that the state is a key to solving socio-economic challenges. Yet the social theory that purports to make sense of the state in Africa is poor. Mainstream scholars use prefixes such as ‘failed’, ‘weak’ and ‘quasi’ to make sense of existing African states. If they call for such labels, it is only because an unhelpful ideal type based on the ‘modern’ European state is postulated. Such scholarship is limited to theorising the distance between the ideal type and real states. This approach gives a functionalist account of the state’s relationship with society and economy, but fails to explain the state as a historical product and expression of the distribution of power between social groups. As an alternative way to theorise states, I propose a synthesis between Robert W. Cox and Mahmood Mamdani. Combining Mamdani’s and Cox’s theoretical frameworks avoids the problems that arise when Eurocentric International Relations (IR) theories are applied to an African context. I use a single case study of the Angolan state to illustrate my argument.
Fulltekst
|
Hele publikasjonslisten
