African
Journals Online
Africa Development
Vol. XXIV, Nos 3 &
4, 1999
Guerriers et marchands:
éléments pour une économic Politique des
conflits en Afrique
Abstract:
This article focuses on the study of the new forms of
conflict in Africa and their determinants – the new
intra-state conflicts which have replaced the Cold War
induced conflicts. The new conflict situations in some
countries have become a means for dominance of politics
of closure, a closure of spaces and a hindrance to
political transition processes and mechanisms.
Enjeux économiques,
conflits africaines et relations Internationales
Abstract:
Dealing with conflicts in Africa as problematic, this
paper outlines four characteristics of conflicts in
Africa: 1) that all African conflicts have economic
stakes that are more or less obvious; 2) that all African
conflicts are influenced by international and domestic
geopolitics; 3)that African conflicts can be explained by
political, economic and socio-cultural variables; and
finally, that African conflicts are brought about by
ill-organised , non free and fair elections.
Resources,
Population and Conflicts: Two Africa Case Studies
Abstract:
This article critically analyses the complex linkages
between population, resource insecurity and conflict. It
argues that rapid population growth beyond the limits of
the `carrying capacity' of the eco-system and resource
scarcities cannot alone be the cause of conflict. Rather,
issues of distribution of resources, power, and the
linkage between the modes of production and the
contradictions embedded in social relations are the
fundamental causes of the conflict. Using two cases: that
of the conflict of the Ogoni and Shell, and the
ecological dimensions of the Sudanese civil war, it is
shown that the state in Africa is not just another
mediator of conflict, but is an actor in the conflict,
repressing its own citizens, alienating them, and
blocking their access to resources, at the behest of
global capitalist interests and those of local elites.
Thus, conflicts over the control of resources –
power – tend to be defined by access to the means of
violence, state power, and the survival of the people.
Ethnicity, Governance and
Prevention of Conflict: State of the Issue and
Research Perspectives
Abstract:
The paper presents the issues of ethnicity, governance,
and prevention of conflicts in terms of their political
management through the proper exercise of power. Conflict
cannot be prevented. It can only be managed. The crucial
determining factor is ethnic, gender and class relations
in power. The paper traces notion of power in the works
of various philosophers and outlines the significance of
perceiving the impact of paradigmatic shifts on political
discourse. These shifts are perceived as intellectual
itineraries from structural-functionalism to the
contemporary North America Critical Theory and
postmodernist theory. The problematic of ethnicity is
posed within debates emanating from the ensuing
perspectival contests and paradigmatic struggles. The
moral economy, rational choice, and subaltern approaches
are also interrogated and critiqued. The paper contends
that when the structures and procedures of democratic
governance are undermined, political legitimacy also gets
compromised.
Vers une économique
politique des conflits au ras du sol
Abstract:
To what extent is conflict central to the day-to-day life
in Africa, where millions of men and women are confronted
with the crises of the state and the economy as a result
of adjustment and globalization processes underway? The
paper highlights that the dynamics of violence are deeply
rooted in the day-to-day life and sheds light on the
crises undermining the very foundations of African
societies. It argues that such an understanding forces us
to recognise the `disenchantment' process unfolding in
contemporary Africa, revisit the logics of frustration
and exclusion affecting weakened communities
(populations) and to grasp the origins of the conflicts
in Africa today.
Civil-Military Relations in
the Transition to Democracy: The Case of
Mozambique
Abstract:
In the last few years Southern Africa has been forced to
grapple with and redefine security priorities in a
complex post-war period. Issues like demilitarisation,
resettlement and restructuring of the armed forces in a
way that contained erstwhile warring groups have become
more strident than ever in the region. The paper focuses
on the restructuring of the Mozambican armed services,
which is taking place in the context of profound
political transformation both at the domestic and
regional levels. Its argument evolves around two main
considerations: 1) that emerging democracies in Africa
should espouse a concept of national security that
adequately responds to the concerns of the citizens as
much as those of the state, domestically, and promotes a
common approach regionally; and 2) that in this context,
the armed services should be oriented in such a way that,
they do not threaten the new democratic political order
but contribute positively to the consolidation of peace
and national reconciliation,
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