The State in Africa: The Politics of the Belly Book

Foreword vi

Notice viii

Preface to the Second English edition x

Preface to the first English edition lxxv

Preface to the original French edition lxxxiii

Introduction: The Historicity of African Societies 1

Part 1 The Genesis of the State

1 The Shadow Theatre of Ethnicity 41

2 The Unequal State: 'Little Men' and 'Big Men' 60

3 The Bourgeois Illusion 87

4 The Opportunity State 104

Part 2 Scenarios in the Pursuit of Hegemony

5 Conservative Modernisation or Social Revolution? The Extreme Scenarios 119

6 The Reciprocal Assimilation of Elites: The Hypothesis of an Intermediate Scenario 150

7 The Formation of a Postcolonial Historic Bloc 180

Part 3 Political Action

8 Entrepreneurs, Factions and Political Networks 207

9 The Politics of the Belly 228

Conclusion: Of Terroirs and Men 260

Notes 273

Index 360