Week 5: Focus on Conflicts
Guide for Week 5 Readings
Stedman and Lyons
- How do Stedman and Lyons explain the advent of conflicts in SSA?
- How have conflicts in SSA evolved since the 1960s?
- Do conflicts affect the prospects for democratization? If so, how?
Chabal and Daloz (Chapter 4)
- What new ways of thinking do Chabal and Daloz bring to our attention?
- How do these authors contribute to our understanding of ethnic politics in the context of SSA?
- What have some consequences of violent conflicts been on African societies? Why does it matter to understand this?
- What are some impediments to resolving conflicts in Africa?
- Once a conflict comes to an end, what needs to happen to reconstruct societies?
Fantu Cheru (Chapter 7)
- What are some consequences of conflicts in SSA (and elsewhere)? Why does it matter to realize this? (i.e., why should anyone care?)
- Who is best able to resolve conflicts in Africa: Africans or outsiders? What are/have been these actors’ strengths and weaknesses?
- What are some steps to take towards conflict prevention and resolution in SSA?
- What are the structural causes of conflicts in SSA?
- What do YOU conclude about violent conflicts in Africa (and elsewhere) from Cheru’s remarks?
Paul Collier (Chapter 2)
- Within a nation, are sub-national identities possible? If so, is this a good or a bad thing?
- Does the reality of multi-ethnic nations in Africa justify dictatorship?
- Why do ethnic loyalties trump national identity?
- How does ethnic diversity impact politics (policy making, electoral competition, public service provision, etc.)?