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Zusatztext This is an excellent collection of essays on a vitally important yet oft-neglected aspect of armed conflict in Africa: the role of informal networks and power structures as keys to a deeper understanding both of the dynamics of violence and the prospects for peace. Carefully researched case studies provide the reader with a unique, and uniquely valuable, insight into the nature of contemporary armed conflict on the continent. Informationen zum Autor Mats Utas is a senior lecturer at Uppsala University, and formerly a senior researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute. Klappentext In the aftermath of an armed conflict in Africa, the international community both produces and demands from local partners a variety of blueprints for reconstructing state and society. The aim is to re-formalize the state after what is viewed as a period of fragmentation. In reality, African economies and polities are very much informal in character, with informal actors, including so-called Big Men, often using their positions in the formal structure as a means to reach their own goals. Through a variety of in-depth case studies, including the DRC, Sierra Leone and Liberia, this comprehensive volume shows how important informal political and economic networks are in many of the continent's conflict areas. Moreover, it demonstrates that without a proper understanding of the impact of these networks, attempts to formalize African states, particularly those emerging from wars, will be in vain. Vorwort Through a variety of in-depth case studies - from DRC to Somali to Liberia amongst others - this book shows how important informal political and economic networks are in many of the continent's conflict areas. Zusammenfassung In the aftermath of an armed conflict in Africa, the international community both produces and demands from local partners a variety of blueprints for reconstructing state and society. The aim is to re-formalize the state after what is viewed as a period of fragmentation. In reality, African economies and polities are very much informal in character, with informal actors, including so-called Big Men, often using their positions in the formal structure as a means to reach their own goals.Through a variety of in-depth case studies, including the DRC, Sierra Leone and Liberia, this comprehensive volume shows how important informal political and economic networks are in many of the continent’s conflict areas. Moreover, it demonstrates that without a proper understanding of the impact of these networks, attempts to formalize African states, particularly those emerging from wars, will be in vain. Inhaltsverzeichnis Introduction: Bigmanity and network governance in African conflicts - By Mats Utas Part 1: Country case studies 1. Informal political structures, resources and the Ugandan army; military entrepreneurialism in the Ugandan-Congolese borderland - Koen Vlassenroot and Sandrine Perot 2. Big Man Business in the Borderland of Sierra Leone - Maya Mynster Christensen 3. The politics of impersonation: Corps habillés, Nouchis, and subaltern Bigmanity in Côte d'Ivoire - Karel Arnaut 4. Demobilized or remobilized? Liberia's remaining rebel structures in post-war security settings - Mariam Persson 5. 'Castles in the sand': Informal networks and power brokers in the Northern Mali periphery - Morten Böås Part 2: Thematic case studies 6. Critical states and cocaine connections - By Henrik Vigh 7. African Big Men and international criminal justice: the case of Sierra Leone - By Gerhard Anders 8. Big Man bargaining in African conflicts - By Ilmari Käihkö 9. Intermediaries of peace or agents of war: the role of ex-midlevel commanders in Big Man networks - By Anders Themnér 10. The Big Men commanding conflict resources in Africa: the DRC case - By Ruben de Koning...
