The post-colonial state in Africa
Subtitle: fifty years of independence, 1960-2010
By: Crawford Young
Series: Africa and the diaspora: history, politics, culture; Africa and the diaspora
Publisher: The University of Wisconsin Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Madison
Language: eng
Number of pages: 488
ISBN-13: 9780299291440; 9780299291433
Subjects: Politics and government; History; Postcolonialism
Description: "In The Postcolonial State in Africa, Crawford Young offers an informed and authoritative comparative overview of fifty years of African independence, drawing on his decades of research and first-hand experience on the African continent. Young identifies three cycles of hope and disappointment common to many of the African states (including those in North Africa) over the last half-century: initial euphoria at independence in the 1960s followed by disillusionment with a lapse into single-party autocracies and military rule; a period of renewed confidence, radicalization, and ambitious state expansion in the 1970s preceding state crisis and even failure in the disastrous 1980s; and a phase of reborn optimism during the continental wave of democratization beginning around 1990. He explores in depth the many African civil wars--especially those since 1990--and three key tracks of identity: Africanism, territorial nationalism, and ethnicity. Only more recently, Young argues, have the paths of the fifty-three African states begun to diverge more dramatically, with some leading to liberalization and others to political, social, and economic collapse--outcomes impossible to predict at the outset of independence."--Back cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.