Ulteriori informazioni
Military coups are a constant threat in Africa and many former military leaders are now in control of 'civilian states', yet the military remains understudied, especially over the last decade. Drawing on extensive archival research, cross-national data, and four in-depth comparative case studies, When Soldiers Rebel examines the causes of military coups in post-independence Africa and looks at the relationship between ethnic armies and political instability in the region. Kristen A. Harkness argues that the processes of creating and dismantling ethnically exclusionary state institutions engenders organized and violent political resistance. Focusing on rebellions to protect rather than change the status quo, Harkness sheds light on a mechanism of ethnic violence that helps us understand both the motivations and timing of rebellion, and the rarity of group rebellion in the face of persistent political and economic inequalities along ethnic lines.
Sommario
Introduction; 1. Ethnicity, military patronage, and soldier rebellion; 2. Statistical tests: ethnic armies and the coup d'état; 3. Building ethnic armies: Cameroon and Sierra Leone; 4. Creating inclusive armies: Senegal and Ghana; 5. Dismantling ethnic armies: African militaries and democratization; Conclusion; Appendix A. Preindependence ethnic violence and ethnic politicization; Appendix B. Military coup data; Appendix C. Ethnicity and the military data; Appendix D. Supplementary material for regression analysis.
Info autore
Kristen A. Harkness is a lecturer in International Relations at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. Her research has been published in Democratization, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, the Journal of Peace Research, the Journal of Strategic Studies, and Parameters. Her work on ethnicity and African militaries won the 2017 African Politics Conference Group Best Article Award and is currently being funded by the British Academy.
Riassunto
This book is intended for academics studying African politics, ethnic conflict, democratization, and civil-military relations. Focusing on the military, it contributes important mechanisms for understanding when and why ethnic groups rebel. Comparative case studies include Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.
Prefazione
Soldiers rebel when leaders attempt to build or dismantle ethnic armies, posing a deep challenge to contemporary democratization efforts.
