9780745644370-0745644376-The State in Africa: The Politics of the Belly

The State in Africa: The Politics of the Belly

ISBN-13: 9780745644370
ISBN-10: 0745644376
Edition: 1
Author: Jean-Francois Bayart
Publication date: 2009
Publisher: Polity
Format: Paperback 420 pages
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ISBN-13: 9780745644370
ISBN-10: 0745644376
Edition: 1
Author: Jean-Francois Bayart
Publication date: 2009
Publisher: Polity
Format: Paperback 420 pages

Summary

The State in Africa: The Politics of the Belly (ISBN-13: 9780745644370 and ISBN-10: 0745644376), written by authors Jean-Francois Bayart, was published by Polity in 2009. With an overall rating of 4.0 stars, it's a notable title among other Economic Conditions (Economics, Non-US Legal Systems, Legal Theory & Systems, Sociology) books. You can easily purchase or rent The State in Africa: The Politics of the Belly (Paperback) from BooksRun, along with many other new and used Economic Conditions books and textbooks. And, if you're looking to sell your copy, our current buyback offer is $3.88.

Description

The State in Africa is one of the important and compelling texts of comparative politics and historical sociology of the last twenty years. Bayart rejects the assumption of African ‘otherness’ based on stereotyped images of famine, corruption and civil war. Instead he invites the reader to see that African politics is like politics anywhere else in the world, not an exotic aberration.

Africans themselves speak of a ‘politics of the belly’ – an expression that refers not only to the necessities of survival but also to a complex array of cultural representations, notably those of the ‘invisible’ world of sorcery. The ‘politics of the belly’ attests to a distinctively African trajectory of power that we need to understand as part of a long-term historical development.

While acknowledging the insights of Western social scientists from Weber to Foucault, Bayart never loses sight of the realities of African politics and social life and he is careful to allow African voices – from the ‘small boy’ in the street to the ‘big men’ in the presidential palaces – to speak for themselves.

This new edition of Bayart’s classic book includes a new introduction on Africa in the world today.

This book has established itself as an indispensable text on the state and politics in Africa. It also provides a nuanced reading of what we have come to call ‘development’ and opens the way for a more general reflection on the invention of politics in African and Asian societies.

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