Logistics Contracts and the Political Economy of State Failure: Evidence from Somalia

IF 1.9 1区 社会学 Q1 AREA STUDIES African Affairs Pub Date : 2022-07-09 DOI:10.1093/afraf/adac024
C. Elder
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Scholars have long sought to understand how economic rents may inhibit the formation of effective and accountable government. Prevailing interpretations of empirical state failure do not adequately account for economic connections and rents. Based on in-depth ethnographic fieldwork and original source material from the Somalia context, this study shows how the dominance of the logistics economy, as a system of ‘graft’ endogenous to state-building, has contributed to empirical state failure. Empirical state failure is characterized by intra-elite struggle, endemic political violence, and insecurity including the threat posed by Islamic extremism. Contributing to the study of political settlements, political clientelism, and business–state relationships in Africa, findings from this study offer new insights for understanding how the dominance of logistics rents and lead firms within a political system may prevent the establishment of legitimate, centralized authorities. These findings contribute to the broader study of Africa’s political economies which have experienced protracted civil war and post-conflict reconstruction. In conclusion, it argues how economic development, procurement reform agendas, and efforts to withhold or withdraw aid through economic sanctions fail to resolve endemic conflict and governance issues due to vested interests, elite fragmentation, and polycentric aid practices. Instead, both government policy and foreign interventions continue to empower lead logistics firms (as skilful political entrepreneurs) that destabilize the Federal Government of Somalia.
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物流契约与国家失败的政治经济学:来自索马里的证据
长期以来,学者们一直试图了解经济租金如何阻碍有效和负责任的政府的形成。对经验国家失败的普遍解释并没有充分考虑到经济联系和租金。基于深入的民族志田野调查和索马里背景下的原始原始资料,本研究表明,物流经济作为一个国家建设的“嫁接”系统,其主导地位是如何导致经验国家失败的。经验上的国家失败的特点是精英内部斗争、地方性政治暴力和不安全,包括伊斯兰极端主义构成的威胁。这项研究的结果有助于对非洲的政治解决方案、政治庇护主义和企业与国家关系的研究,为理解物流租赁和领导公司在政治体系中的主导地位如何阻止合法、集中的权力机构的建立提供了新的见解。这些发现有助于对经历了旷日持久的内战和冲突后重建的非洲政治经济进行更广泛的研究。最后,它认为,由于既得利益、精英分裂和多中心援助做法,经济发展、采购改革议程以及通过经济制裁扣留或撤回援助的努力未能解决普遍存在的冲突和治理问题。相反,政府政策和外国干预继续赋予破坏索马里联邦政府稳定的领先物流公司(作为有技巧的政治企业家)权力。
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来源期刊
African Affairs
African Affairs Multiple-
CiteScore
4.30
自引率
17.90%
发文量
37
期刊介绍: African Affairs is published on behalf of the Royal African Society. It publishes articles on recent political, social and economic developments in sub-Saharan countries. Also included are historical studies that illuminate current events in the continent. Each issue of African Affairs contains a substantial section of book reviews, with occasional review articles. There is also an invaluable list of recently published books, and a listing of articles on Africa that have appeared in non-Africanist journals.
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