Rethinking African Politics

Rethinking African Politics
Author: Miles Larmer
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2016-04-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317064410


Download Rethinking African Politics Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

In 1964 Kenneth Kaunda and his United National Independence Party (UNIP) government established the nation of Zambia in the former British colony of Northern Rhodesia. In parallel with many other newly independent countries in Africa this process of decolonisation created a wave of optimism regarding humanity's capacity to overcome oppression and poverty. Yet, as this study shows, in Zambia as in many other countries, the legacy of colonialism created obstacles that proved difficult to overcome. Within a short space of time democratisation and development was replaced by economic stagnation, political authoritarianism, corruption and ethnic and political conflict. To better understand this process, Dr Larmer explores UNIP's political ideology and the strategies it employed to retain a grip on government. He shows that despite the party's claim that it adhered to an authentically African model of consensual and communitarian decision-making, it was never a truly nationally representative body. Whereas in long-established Western societies unevenness in support was accepted as a legitimate basis for party political difference, in Zambia this was regarded as a threat to the fragile bindings of the young nation state, and as such had to be denied and repressed. This led to the declaration of a one-party state, presented as the logical expression of UNIP supremacy but it was in fact a reflection of its weakening grip on power. Through case studies of opposition political and social movements rooted in these differences, the book demonstrates that UNIP's control of the new nation-state was partial, uneven and consistently prone to challenge. Alongside this, the study also re-examines Zambia's role in the regional liberation struggles, providing valuable new evidence of the country's complex relations with Apartheid-era South Africa and the relationship between internal and external opposition, shaped by the context of regional liberation movements and the Cold War. Drawing on extensive archival research and interviews, Dr Larmer offers a ground-breaking analysis of post-colonial political history which helps explain the challenges facing contemporary African polities.


Rethinking African Politics
Language: en
Pages: 326
Authors: Miles Larmer
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2016-04-08 - Publisher: Routledge

GET EBOOK

In 1964 Kenneth Kaunda and his United National Independence Party (UNIP) government established the nation of Zambia in the former British colony of Northern Rh
Rethinking African Politics
Language: en
Pages: 352
Authors: Dr Miles Larmer
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2013-07-28 - Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

GET EBOOK

In 1964 Kenneth Kaunda and his United National Independence Party (UNIP) government established the nation of Zambia in the former British colony of Northern Rh
Political Domination in Africa
Language: en
Pages: 228
Authors: Patrick Chabal
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 1986-10-09 - Publisher: CUP Archive

GET EBOOK

This collection of essays brings together historians and political scientists from Britain, France and the United States, who, from widely differing perspective
Rethinking Statehood in the Middle East and North Africa
Language: en
Pages: 234
Authors: Abel Polese
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2020-05-21 - Publisher: Routledge

GET EBOOK

Alternative forms of government and statehood exist in the Middle East and North African regions. The chapters in this volume demonstrate this and explore the n
The African Colonial State in Comparative Perspective
Language: en
Pages: 372
Authors: Crawford Young
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 1994-01-01 - Publisher: Yale University Press

GET EBOOK

In this comprehensive and original study, a distinguished specialist and scholar of African affairs argues that the current crisis in African development can be