When Things Fell Apart: State Failure in Late-Century Africa (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics) - Softcover

Bates, Robert H.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521715253 ISBN 13: 9780521715256

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2008

Synopsis

In the later decades of the twentieth century, Africa plunged into political chaos. States failed, governments became predators, and citizens took up arms. In When Things Fell Apart, Robert H. Bates advances an exploration of state failure in Africa. In so doing, he not only plumbs the depths of the continent's late-century tragedy, but also the logic of political order and the foundations of the state. This book covers a wide range of territory by drawing on materials from Rwanda, Sudan, Liberia, and Congo. A must-read for scholars and policy makers concerned with political conflict and state failure.

About this title

Review

'Bates' book rightly reminds us that political order is problematic ... The book also contains a strong argument for the central role of the state for economic development.' Africa Spectrum

'An old hand in US political science on Africa with a university career which stretches over more than 40 years, Bates combines some of the most attractive, but also some of the more problematic traditions of his trade.' Comparativ

Book Description

In When Things Fell Apart, Robert H. Bates addresses the origins of state failure in Africa in the late decades of the twentieth century. Bates plumbs the depths of the continent's late-century tragedy, the logic of political order, and the foundations of the state for explanations for these tragedies.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521715253
• ISBN 13: 9780521715256
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 216