Contact:
Chris W. J. Roberts, MSS, PhD(ABD)
  • Home
  • Research and Publishing
  • Conferences and Talks
  • Teaching Experience
  • Blog: Africa in the World
  • Memberships
  • Online Resources
  • RevisitingAfrica

TOP TEN AFRICAN COMPARATIVE POLITICS BOOKS

9/19/2015

0 Comments

 
As we transition from the Letterman to Colbert era on "The Late Show", it seems timely to produce a Top Ten list of the most important and influential monographs in the field of African comparative politics. Yes, that's a completely contrived segue, but as a kick-off to restarting my blog, it seemed good enough. 

After three years of dissertation research, writing, thinking, editing, re-editing, rethinking, writing, retooling, and revamping, the end is in sight. Still lots of work to do, but the pieces are finally starting to fall into place. A good time to relaunch the blog, albeit on a very occasional basis.

That said, I thought it might be useful or inciteful (that spelling is intended) to list what I consider to be the 10 most important monographs on African comparative politics published between 2000-2015. The list is subjective, but a good starting point for debate. Such a list reflects my own relationship with and thinking about the study of African politics, and other lists would surely look partly or substantially different. There are some obvious books in this list, and some not so obvious books which deserve wider consideration.

Parameters:
- Monographs (not edited collections, but can have more than one author)
- Publishing date 2000 or later
- In English
- Broadly comparative: not a (mostly) single country study (leaves out Posner's 2005 award winning book) or one that is broader than just Africa (Sangmpam 2007)
- Not mostly a textbook (which leaves out Hyden 2006/2013 and Englebert & Dunn 2013, both excellent works)

Order is purely chronological:

(1) Herbst, Jeffrey Ira. (2000) States and Power in Africa : Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

(2) Abrahamsen, Rita. (2001) Disciplining Democracy : Development Discourse and Good Governance in Africa. New York: Zed Books.

(3) Van de Walle, Nicolas. (2001) African Economies and the Politics of Permanent Crisis, 1979-1999. Cambridge, U.K. New York: Cambridge University Press.

(4) Lindberg, Staffan I. (2006) Democracy and Elections in Africa. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

(5) Handley, Antoinette. (2008) Business and the State in Africa : Economic Policy-Making in the Neo-Liberal Era. Cambridge, UK ; New York: Cambridge University Press.

(6) Englebert, Pierre. (2009) Africa: Unity, Sovereignty, and Sorrow. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

(7) Young, Crawford. (2012) The Postcolonial State in Africa: Fifty Years of Independence, 1960-2010. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press.

(8) Jerven, Morten. (2014) Economic Growth and Measurement Reconsidered in Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia, 1965-1995. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

(9) Boone, Catherine. (2014) Property and Political Order in Africa: Land Rights and the Structure of Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.

(10) Pella, John Anthony. (2015) Africa and the Expansion of International Society: Surrendering the Savannah. New York: Routledge.

Honourable Mentions:

Bates, Robert H. (2008) When Things Fell Apart : State Failure in Late-Century Africa. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Reno, William. (2011) Warfare in Independent Africa. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Pitcher, M. Anne. (2012) Party Politics and Economic Reform  in Africa's Democracies. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Cheeseman, Nicholas. (2015) Democracy in Africa: Successes, Failures, and the Struggle for Political Reform. New Approaches to African History. New York: Cambridge University Press. [Haven't had a chance to read this yet!]
0 Comments
    Picture
    A statue in Arusha, Tanzania honoring local TPDF soldiers who died during the war with Idi Amin (1978-79)

    Author

    Chris WJ Roberts is a Canadian international business and policy consultant; a student of African politics, international relations, and Canadian foreign policy working towards a PhD in political science at the University of Alberta; and an instructor in political science at the University of Calgary (2014-2018).

    This irregular blog provides an outlet for an "entrepreneurial academic" to make small interventions around the theme of Africa in the World. In many respects it acts as a research notebook, capturing issues, sources, and ideas to be used for more detailed analysis in the future.

    Archives

    February 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    January 2011
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010

    Categories

    All
    African Business
    African Development
    Canada & Africa
    Human Security
    Natural Resources
    Study Of African Politics
    USA & Africa

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.