When Things Fell Apart State Failure in Late-Century Africa [Hardcover]

Robert H. Bates addresses the origins of state failure in late twentieth-century Africa.In When Things Fell Apart, Robert H. Bates addresses the origins of state failure in Africa in the late decades of the twentieth century. Bates plumbs the depths of the continent's late-century tragedy, the logic of political order, and the foundations of the state for explanations for these tragedies.In When Things Fell Apart, Robert H. Bates addresses the origins of state failure in Africa in the late decades of the twentieth century. Bates plumbs the depths of the continent's late-century tragedy, the logic of political order, and the foundations of the state for explanations for these tragedies.In the later decades of the 20th 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 explanation 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 policy makers concerned with political 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.Bates has laid bare the reasons that violence has been so prevalent in Africa in the late 20th century. It was not ethnic divisions, nor simply available resource wealth, though both are implicated. Rather, African states, buffeted by adverse impacts of globalization, lacked the revenues to administer their fractious societies. When predation and corruption seemed to offer greater rewards l£6