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The labels 'state fragility' and 'civil war' suggest that security within several African countries has broken down. As Tim Glawion observes, however, while people do experience insecurity in some parts of conflict-affected countries, in other areas they live in relative security. Conducting in-depth field-research between 2014 and 2018, The Security Arena in Africa is based on first-hand insights into South Sudan and the Central African Republic during their ongoing civil wars, and Somalia's breakaway state of Somaliland. Gaining valuable accounts from the people whose security is at stake, this bottom-up perspective on discussions of peace and security tells vivid stories from the field to explore complex security dynamics, making theoretical insights translatable to real-world experiences and revealing how security is created and undermined in these fragile states.
List of contents
Introduction; 1. Ordering the security arena; 2. National and local histories of security; 3. Creating centres and peripheries in the national arena; 4. Inner and outer circles of the arena; 5. Stable ordering and predictable security; 6. Fluid ordering and flexible security; 7. Mixing ordering forms; 8. Embedding into and detaching from the arena; Conclusion.
About the author
Tim Glawion is a political analyst and field researcher focusing on issues of local security within fragile states. He has investigated conflict and peace in the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Haiti, South Sudan, and Somaliland. Providing advice to government and civil society organizations, his research is regularly published in journals including Development and Change and the Journal of Modern African Studies.
Summary
Based on in-depth fieldwork, this critical analysis of the realities of security on a local level within 'fragile states' provides a bottom-up perspective on discussions surrounding peace and security in Central and East Africa, with first-hand insights and vivid real-world examples from some of the hardest to reach places in the region.
Foreword
Based on in-depth fieldwork, Tim Glawion explores how local security functions in some of the world's most fragile states across Central and East Africa.
Additional text
'The Security Arena in Africa is a refreshingly honest and contemplative work in terms of its voice. Glawion is candid and straightforward in his outlining of the methodological challenges and trade-offs faced in undertaking the fieldwork. Thus, he study represents, in this regard, a valuable contribution to the burgeoning literature on the politics and ethics of research in conflict-affected regions …' Jonathan Fisher, Perspectives on Politics
