Africa Works: Disorder As Political Instrument (African Issues)

Rating:
Summary: This IS how Africa works!
Review: After working in Africa off and on for twenty years in development, relief and human rights, I would recommend that every expat who is planning to work there read this book. I would make it compulsory reading for all WB, Dfid, USAID, UN, etc employees... even Peace Corps, WUSC, VSO, etc people! The alternative is personal frustration arising from becoming aware of the structures identified here, without understanding their origin and functionality. Instead of seeing perverse events as idiosyncratic, you will begin to understand that they are part of a larger whole, rooted in the political economy and history of the continent. Excellent book!

Rating:
Summary: This IS how Africa works!
Review: i have lived and worked in africa for a long time and am emotionally attached to east africa, but this does not cloud my perception of the deep troubles that this continent is in and expect what is realistic instead of what is desirable.

this analysis is done in a unbiased tone, although any proud african will disagree on this. but then proud africans are very touchy when it comes to explaining the miserable reality of most african countries.

the authors put forward that development the western style cannot work in africa, as the basis of a civil society like we know it is simply not there. most frustrating is the fact that there seems to be no proof of an african way to create sustained and stable wealth. if you expect the worst and are happy if it turns out to be just a little better you might have the right attitude to work there.

Rating:
Summary: If you're going to work in Africa, you need to read this.
Review: I was born in and grew up in central Africa and have recently returned to work there - Malawi. Africa is the most extraordinary place - very easy to fall in love with. But, there are some huge buts... In Africa, you will learn the true meaning of the word 'frustration'. It is a place of astounding unrealised potential. Why?

This book is the first cogent explanation of why Africa is like it is, and will form the basis of my own analysis - the one you have to do to remain sane. It is right on the button with explanations for the corruption and disorder that is Africa. And yet it is not a critical book; nor is it patronising and it does not suggest that the answer to African problems is to be more like the West. It simply gives you clues as to why it is like it is.

This book has given me the ammunition I need to convince myself that there is a great deal of sense in what is happening in central Africa. It sounds silly to suggest that a sociological/development studies book could give an otherwise normal person a real insight into his situation, but it does! I really take my hat off to these guys!

Rating:
Summary: Difficult questions that need to be asked
Review: The authors of "Africa Works" pose a series of challenges to the existing Western orthodoxy about African politics and government. What if Africa is headed neither toward anarchy nor Western-style modernity, but toward its own unique brand of the future? What if politics is envisioned in a fundamentally different manner in Africa than in the West? What if African political elites were not being manipulated by international institutions, but were in fact doing the manipulating themselves?

In asking these questions, Chabal and Daloz force the reader to reexamine his or her view of Africa and its place in history. They require that Africans no longer be looked at as perpetual victims in the patterns of world events, but as agents in their own destinies. They suggest that African elites have actually engineered the present state of disorder on the continent and do everything in their power to preserve it, and they explain why it is in these elites' interest to do so.

I find their arguments intriguing to say the least, and a refreshing change from the stale, politically correct views that always cast Africa as a helpless pawn of outside powers. "Africa Works" resonates very strongly with my own experience living and working in Africa.

Having said that, though, I am not entirely convinced that the authors are 100 percent on target. They tend to paint developments across the continent with very broad strokes, and offer little in the way of evidence that isn't anecdotal. Furthermore, perhaps their break from the orthodoxy on African politics isn't as significant as they make it out to be. Jean-Francois Bayart, one author whom they repeatedly go out of their way to beat up on, has written articles sounding similar themes.

"Africa Works" is nonetheless an important book and I hope that it touches off a new debate on the character of governance in Africa. The old ideas have clearly done nobody any good.

Rating:
Summary: Difficult questions that need to be asked
Review: The authors of "Africa Works" pose a series of challenges to the existing Western orthodoxy about African politics and government. What if Africa is headed neither toward anarchy nor Western-style modernity, but toward its own unique brand of the future? What if politics is envisioned in a fundamentally different manner in Africa than in the West? What if African political elites were not being manipulated by international institutions, but were in fact doing the manipulating themselves?

In asking these questions, Chabal and Daloz force the reader to reexamine his or her view of Africa and its place in history. They require that Africans no longer be looked at as perpetual victims in the patterns of world events, but as agents in their own destinies. They suggest that African elites have actually engineered the present state of disorder on the continent and do everything in their power to preserve it, and they explain why it is in these elites' interest to do so.

I find their arguments intriguing to say the least, and a refreshing change from the stale, politically correct views that always cast Africa as a helpless pawn of outside powers. "Africa Works" resonates very strongly with my own experience living and working in Africa.

Having said that, though, I am not entirely convinced that the authors are 100 percent on target. They tend to paint developments across the continent with very broad strokes, and offer little in the way of evidence that isn't anecdotal. Furthermore, perhaps their break from the orthodoxy on African politics isn't as significant as they make it out to be. Jean-Francois Bayart, one author whom they repeatedly go out of their way to beat up on, has written articles sounding similar themes.

"Africa Works" is nonetheless an important book and I hope that it touches off a new debate on the character of governance in Africa. The old ideas have clearly done nobody any good.

Rating:
Summary: An Illogical Chain of reasoning
Review: When I read this book, I was amused by it. To say that the disorder in Africa benefits someone--e.g., via corruption--has been around for some time and is nothing new. To say that this disorder somehow makes the societies "work" is new but illogical. For something to "work" for the continent as a whole it must have positive net benefit. Right now, the disorder in Africa is such that the benefit to those who gain is far less than the loss to those who lose. This is a well-known research result. Africa doesn't work; the disorder results in a net loss to Africa. Why Africans do not do enough to change the institutional and organizational order is an interesting reasearch topic. How one can help Africans do something about this predicament is also an interesting research topic. But to say that the disorder works is illogical.