Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / This thesis is a theoretical contribution to the debate about statehood in Sub-Saharan Africa.
My primary aims have been 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. The synthesis adds to both frameworks by
addressing a shortcoming in Cox by paying more attention to power struggles in the
periphery, and redresses the exclusive focus on Africa in Mamdani. Adding Cox to Mamdani
contextualises Mamdani’s African state in space as well as time, whereas adding Mamdani to
Cox shows how African states respond to outside pressures and in the process (re)constitute
the world order by adding an inside-out pressure.
I use a single case study of the Angolan state to illustrate how a Coxian / Mamdanian
synthesis contributes to the debate. This theoretical framework turns the attention to four
aspects. First, there is a close historical link between the economic structure and the form of
the state in the country, from the slave trade to today’s political economy of oil. Second, I
look at the attempts of the Angolan state elite to legitimise its own power. I posit that in the
context of social destitution and poverty, strategies to sustain consent based rule assumes
particular importance. Third, the Angolan state is an expression of internal powers struggles
between social groups in the country. The contemporary balance of power is volatile: recent
economic growth has the potential of unsettling old power structures, as the relative balance
of who has access to economic power changes. Lastly, the world order supports the current
structure of power in Angola, largely thanks to the political economy of oil. Oil gives the
Angolan regime ample economic resources, as well as crucial support from oil companies and
the states that import the oil. This foreign support underwrites the regime and constitutes an
important element in its support base
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/2855 |
| Date | 03 1900 |
| Creators | Solli, Audun |
| Contributors | Leysens, Anthony, University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Political Science. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Stellenbosch |
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