In the course of democratic transition processes in Africa since the 1990s, 'civil society' has been a carrier of great hopes and expectations. This has been so despite the fact that the socio-economic foundations for a civil societyin the European sense (the concept being European in origin) are largely missing in most parts of Africa. Pressure groups, organizations defending rights, independent policy consultants, and other stakeholders have become known as 'civil society organizations,' but they endure in Africa largely due to externalfunding. An African civil society in this sense exists, but it remains weak and externally dependent. However, there are broader concepts of civil society,comprising a wider range of forms of social self-organization that are neither part of the state nor part of the private sector - a 'third sector'. Nigerian society has produced a whole range of forms of such self-organization, from community-based forms of self-help to bodies of ethnic or religious representation, and even militias. Some have rather narrow, pragmatic aims, while othershave an explicit sociocultural or political agenda. This bookexplores the linkages between state failure, self-help, and self-organization. It looks at theemergence of Nigerian civil society in the broader sense, outlining its dynamics and successes, but also revealing its costs and ambiguities. INDICE: State Failure, Civil Society, and 'Uncivil Society': Concepts and Outline .Cooperative Investment and Credit societies in Southwest Nigeria .From 'Area-Boyism' to 'Junctions and Bases': Social Order and Violence in Lagos Island .State Failure and the Niger Delta .Radical Ethnic Actors and Militias .Conflict Management and Peace-Building Capacities of State and Non-State Actors .Gendered States: State Failure, Gender, and the Women's Rights Movement .Women in 'Traditional' / Local-Level Governance .Local Government and Community Self-Help Organisations .Contradictions in the Public Sphere: The Media .Churches as a (Failed?) Alternative.
- ISBN: 978-1-1370-0677-6
- Editorial: Palgrave Macmillan
- Encuadernacion: Cartoné
- Páginas: 272
- Fecha Publicación: 12/07/2012
- Nº Volúmenes: 1
- Idioma: Desconocido