When Things Fell Apart
State Failure in Late-Century Africa

Explores Africa in the late twentieth century, focusing on the logic of political order and the foundations of the state.

Robert H. Bates (Author)

9781107569805, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 29 September 2015

202 pages, 9 b/w illus. 2 maps 13 tables
21.6 x 13.8 x 0.9 cm, 0.29 kg

'An old hand in US political science on Africa with a university career which stretches over more than forty years, Bates combines some of the most attractive, but also some of the more problematic traditions of his trade.' Comparativ

In the later decades of the twentieth century, Africa plunged into political chaos. States failed, governments became predators, and citizens took up arms. In When Things Fell Apart, Robert H. Bates advances an exploration of state failure in Africa. In so doing, he not only plumbs the depths of the continent's late-century tragedy, but also the logic of political order, and the foundations of the state. This book covers a wide range of territory by drawing on materials from Rwanda, Sudan, Liberia, and Congo. Written to be accessible to the general reader, it is nonetheless a must-read for scholars and policymakers concerned with conflict and state failure.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Introduction
2. From fable to fact
Part II. Sewing the Seeds: 3. Political legacies
4. Policy choices
5. Subnational tensions
Part III. Things Fell Apart: 6. Things fell apart
7. Conclusion
Part IV: Appendix.

Subject Areas: Comparative politics [JPB], Politics & government [JP], African history [HBJH]