Roadblock Politics

The Origins of Violence in Central Africa

Roadblock Politics
Peer Schouten
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Paperback
Not defined - 256pg
31 Dec 2020 UK
International import eta 7-19 days
9781108713818
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There are so many roadblocks in Central Africa that it is hard to find a road that does not have one. Based on research in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic (CAR), Peer Schouten maps more than a thousand of these roadblocks to show how communities, rebels and state security forces forge resistance and power out of control over these narrow points of passage. Schouten reveals the connections between these roadblocks in Central Africa and global supply chains, tracking the flow of multinational corporations and UN agencies alike through them, to show how they encapsulate a form of power, which thrives under conditions of supply chain capitalism. In doing so, he develops a new lens through which to understand what drives state formation and conflict in the region, offering a radical alternative to explanations that foreground control over minerals, territory or population as key drivers of Central Africa' s violent history.
' Based on extraordinary research in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, this is an innovative approach to the study of conflict dynamics in resource-rich areas with roadblocks as alternative financing mechanisms for armed groups. By placing roadblock politics in a comprehensive historical perspective including pre-twentieth century Europe and precolonial Africa, Peer Schouten has made an outstanding contribution to state formation theory. ' Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ' In this book, Peer Schouten lays bare a truth about the connection between violence and development - that is, development as we in the west might have called it. The indigenous people of Central Africa might have thought of it in very different terms. Many critical analyses have been written about how we, non-Africans, left our savage traces all over Africa, one of the major sites of our extractions. A must read. ' Saskia Sassen, Columbia University, New York ' It' s astonishing how many corners of both state-making and resistance theory are illuminated by this brilliant, deeply-researched study of roadblocks. No serious student of sovereignty and political economy ought to be allowed out the door in the morning without having digested its contents and applied the magnifying lens it provides. It has that ' world in a grain of sand' quality to it. ' James C. Scott, Yale University
Peer Schouten is a Senior Researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, Associate Researcher of the International Peace Information Service, and Editor-in-Chief of Theory Talks. His work combines deep fieldwork in Central Africa with theory development and engagement with policy debates.
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9781108713818
Published: 31 Dec 2020
Published In: United Kingdom
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Format: Paperback
Pages: 256

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