Meagher, Kate 
ORCID: 0000-0001-9859-0827
(2012)
The strength of weak states? Non-state security forces and hybrid governance in Africa.
Development and Change, 43 (5).
pp. 1073-1101.
ISSN 0012-155X
Abstract
In this article, I explore the recent revalorization of non-state forms of order and authority in the context of hybrid approaches to governance and state building in Africa. I argue for a more empirical and comparative approach to hybrid governance that is capable of distinguishing between constructive and corrosive forms of non-state order, and sharpens rather than blurs the relationship between formal and informal regulation. A critique of the theoretical and methodological issues surrounding hybrid governance perspectives sets the scene for a comparative analysis of two contrasting situations of hybrid security systems: the RCD-ML of eastern DR Congo, and the Bakassi Boys vigilante group of eastern Nigeria. In each case, four issues are examined: the basis of claims that regulatory authority has shifted to informal security systems; the local legitimacy of the security forces involved; the wider political context; and finally, whether a genuine transformation of regulatory authority has resulted, offering local populations a preferable alternative to the prior situation of neglectful or predatory rule. I argue that hybrid governance perspectives often essentialize informal regulatory systems, disguising coercion and political capture as popular legitimacy, and I echo calls for a more historically and empirically informed analysis of hybrid governance contexts.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28... |
| Additional Information: | © 2012 John Wiley & Sons |
| Divisions: | International Development |
| Subjects: | D History General and Old World > DT Africa J Political Science > JA Political science (General) J Political Science > JF Political institutions (General) |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Sep 2012 09:27 |
| Last Modified: | 13 Nov 2024 18:45 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/45876 |
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