State Failure In Subsaharan Africa

How should failed states in Africa be understood Catherine Scott here critically engages with the concept of state failure and provides an historical reinterpretation. She shows that although the concept emerged in the context of the postCold War new world order the phenomenon has been attendant throughout and even before the development of the Westphalian state system. Contemporary failed states however differ from their historical counterparts in one fundamental respect they fail within their