Extractive Industries and Changing State Dynamics in Africa: Beyond the Resource Curse (Routledge Studies in African Development)

By focussing on the processual rather than the categorical Extractive Industries and Changing State Dynamics in Africa destabilises the narratives that have dominated thinking in policy and academic circles on the nature of Africa's extractive industry and its interactions and role with the state. It makes an important and compelling case for looking to the negotiated, contested and contingent nature of the state, and the extractive sector. - Patience Mususa, The Nordic Africa Institute, Sweden

Africa's historic dependency on primary commodities is once again in focus as prices have tailed off. While the days of Africa rising may be over, African states continue to renegotiate their position and seek to deal with the problems and potential of natural resource endowments. The very notion of what the state is and what it should do is continually discussed and reformed, ever more so under current conditions. Under pressure from both domestic and external constituencies, the evolving functions, competences and power of the state continues to evolve - processes that are ably captured in this important volume. - Ian Taylor, Professor in International Relations and African Political Economy at the University of St Andrews, UK, and Chair Professor in the School of International Studies, Renmin University of China

In recent years there has been a burgeoning literature on the role of extractive industries in African economies. But there are few critical analyses that probe how these industries affect state formation, particularly the relations between elites and masses. Going beyond the popular conceptions of the state in Africa, this book provides an elegant examination of the intersection among multiple actors in the extractive industries and various African states. In addition to excellent conceptual chapters, comparative perspectives from Cameroon, Ghana, Mozambique, and South Africa illuminate an area of growing academic and policy significance. - Gilbert M. Khadiagala, Jan Smuts Professor of International Relations, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa