Call for papers for the ACPR special issue on State Fragmentation in Africa

Please see the call for papers for the ACPR special issue on State Fragmentation in Africa. This is a collaboration between the Institute for Research and Policy Integration in Africa (IRPIA) at Northern Illinois University and the African Institute for Research in Economics and Social Science (AIRESS) at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco.  

The deadline for submission of 200-word abstract is 25th June 2023. Once accepted authors will be expected to submit a final article of not more than 7,500 words on 15th October 2023.

CONTACT PERSONS.
Norman Sempijja (norman.sempijja@um6p.ma)
Khalid Chegraoui (khalid.chegraoui@um6p.ma)
Kidane Kiros (Kidane.kiros@um6p.ma)

This special issue will examine the causes, challenges, and consequences of state fragmentation in Africa. The publication will further explore possible solutions to state fragmentation going beyond the Westphalian state model.

This special issue welcomes articles on the abovementioned topic. The articles can include sub-topics on
• Underlying causes of state fragmentation in Africa
• Challenges emanating from state fragmentation in Africa (social-economic &Political)
• Interrogating the viability of Westphalian state model in Africa
• Case for alternative state (hybrid) structure in Africa?
• Beyond the Westphalian state model?

 

State fragmentation in Africa: Is it time to reconceptualise the state in Africa?

The fall of Muammar Ghaddafi presented a pivotal moment in the Sahel region as the defunct Libyan army operatives moved weapons into the region and new conflicts broke out overnight in Mali and later other countries like Niger and Burkina Faso among others. Yet the conflicts in the region have proved chiefly internal as groups have sought to assert themselves but also fill the gaps left by the state as the case is with Islamic State in West Africa in Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon. The absence of state presence is also attributed to the geographical challenges in the Sahel as it is difficult to govern due to its vastness and harshness. It has served as a breeding ground for terror groups that have hidden in the harsh climate and organised themselves away from state presence. Resources and their poor management have become central to state fragmentation especially in what has come to be known as political resource curse to an extent the greed and grievance.

The vulnerability of African states to such stressors has seen a resurgence in coups and attempted coups, proliferation separatist movements in most of the countries in the Sahel region. Yet these challenges are not only limited to the Sahel. West and East African regions are faced with increasing maritime piracy in Guinea and Somalia, increasing violent contestation of the state in Nigeria, South Sudan, Cameroon and Ethiopia, coups and attempted coups in Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali among others, electoral violence in Uganda and Kenya, terrorism, and rebel activities in DR Congo. Although it has experienced relative peace, southern Africa must contend with increasing income inequality that has bred xenophobia in South Africa, state repression in Swaziland and Zimbabwe and proliferation of terror groups in Mozambique. In North Africa Libya continues to struggle in its quest for a unified state, the coup in Egypt failed to create a culture of peaceful transition while internal strife threatens the gains Tunisia made during the Arab Spring.

Other challenges have centred on state structures that do not resonate with the contemporary Westphalian model especially the centrality of traditional leaders in governance. Moreover, although Somalia has been viewed as a failed state in Westphalian terms, existing traditional clan systems have proved resilient and flexible. This has posed a question as to what it means for a state to fail? Although viewed in terms of doom and gloom, the survival of Somali communities gives a new perspective to the understanding of the state. Could the Westphalian model co-exist with traditional or precolonial state structures in Africa?