Undulating Capacity of the State - Autochthony and Infrastructure Development in African Cities

This Element weaves together literatures on autochthony and belonging and on African urbanism to shed new light on the ability of the African state to undertake development interventions in some of the most important urban centers on the continent. It explains variations in levels of trust in the African state that shape neighborhoods' responses to states' development interventions. Focusing on the Senegalese state's construction of the VDN 2 highway on the outskirts of the capital, Dakar, the author argues that in major African cities with colonial origins, whether neighborhoods project themselves as 'autochthonous' or 'migrant' communities shapes general attitudes toward the state and influences the capacity of the state to carry out development interventions in these areas. In these cities, states are more likely to successfully intervene in neighborhoods dominated by 'new' migrants to the city than in those neighborhoods that portray themselves as 'autochthones' of these cities.

List of contents

1. Introduction; 2. On state capacity in Africa; 3. Autochthony and the undulating capacity of the state; 4. Cambérène: Intervening among guarded autochthons; 5. Parcelles assainies: Intervening in a 'new' neighborhood; 6. Conclusion; List of abbreviations; References.

Product details

• Authors: Ato Kwamena (University of Toronto) Onoma, Onoma Ato Kwamena
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 31.07.2025
• EAN: 9781009698375
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0969837-5
• No. of pages: 75
• Series: Elements in the Politics of Development
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Economy, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Development / General, Africa, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Comparative Politics, LITERARY CRITICISM / African, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Affairs & Administration, POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / African, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Indigenous Studies, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 20th Century, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Developing & Emerging Countries, Indigenous Peoples, Political Economy, Comparative Politics, Literary studies: post-colonial literature, Development Studies, Literary studies: postcolonial literature, Regional government, Indigenous people: governance and politics