Puzzle and Paradox
A Political Economy of Madagascar

Analyses the economic and political history of Madagascar from independence to the early twenty-first century.

Mireille Razafindrakoto (Author), François Roubaud (Author), Jean-Michel Wachsberger (Author)

9781108488334, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 6 February 2020

302 pages
23.5 x 15.6 x 2.1 cm, 0.54 kg

'This book provides a convincing answer to the riddle of Madagascar, a poor country despite its many assets. Madagascar's misfortune has its roots in a hierarchical, atomized society whose secular immobilism is marked by brief surges of hope repeatedly dashed by ruinous political and economic crises.' Jean Fremigacci, University of Tananarive

Madagascar's long-term trajectory is unique: not only has GDP per capita been trending downward since 1960 (the puzzle), but every time the country has set out on the path of growth, it has been stopped in its tracks by a socio-political crisis that has shattered the hopes it raised (the paradox). No satisfactory explanation of this failure has been provided so far. This book elaborates a model of intelligibility of Madagascar's downfall, based on an integrated political economy approach as well as mobilizing the most recent development theories. Combining a review of historical literature with original and sometimes unique statistical surveys, it proposes a general interpretative framework for the workings of Malagasy society. Richly documented and accessible, Puzzle and Paradox allows readers to understand Madagascar's sociopolitical history while more broadly offering an opportunity to grasp the different dimensions of development in the Global South.

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations and acronyms
General introduction
1. The Malagasy mystery through the lens of economic growth and development theories
2. Milestones for a political economy of Madagascar's trajectory
3. Structural assets
4. Obstacles
5. Elites in Madagascar: a sociography
General conclusion
Timeline
Glossary of Malagasy terms
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Development economics & emerging economies [KCM]