Week Five

Week 5: Focus on Conflicts

 

Guide for Week 5 Readings

Stedman and Lyons

  1. How do Stedman and Lyons explain the advent of conflicts in SSA?
  2. How have conflicts in SSA evolved since the 1960s?
  3. Do conflicts affect the prospects for democratization? If so, how?
Chabal and Daloz (Chapter 4)
  1. What new ways of thinking do Chabal and Daloz bring to our attention?
  2. How do these authors contribute to our understanding of ethnic politics in the context of SSA?
  3. What have some consequences of violent conflicts been on African societies? Why does it matter to understand this?
  4. What are some impediments to resolving conflicts in Africa?
  5. Once a conflict comes to an end, what needs to happen to reconstruct societies?

Fantu Cheru (Chapter 7)

  1. What are some consequences of conflicts in SSA (and elsewhere)? Why does it matter to realize this? (i.e., why should anyone care?)
  2. Who is best able to resolve conflicts in Africa: Africans or outsiders? What are/have been these actors’ strengths and weaknesses?
  3. What are some steps to take towards conflict prevention and resolution in SSA?
  4. What are the structural causes of conflicts in SSA?
  5. What do YOU conclude about violent conflicts in Africa (and elsewhere) from Cheru’s remarks?

Paul Collier (Chapter 2)

  1. Within a nation, are sub-national identities possible? If so, is this a good or a bad thing?
  2. Does the reality of multi-ethnic nations in Africa justify dictatorship?
  3. Why do ethnic loyalties trump national identity?
  4. How does ethnic diversity impact  politics (policy making, electoral competition, public service provision, etc.)?