Region-Building in Africa: Political and Economic Challenges

ISBN-13: 9781137586100 / Angielski / Twarda / 2016 / 348 str.

Daniel H. Levine; Dawn Nagar

Opis

This landmark book is the first of its kind to assess the challenges of African region-building and regional integration across all five African subregions and more than five decades of experience, considering both political and economic aspects. Leading scholars and practitioners have come together to analyze a range of entwined topics, such as the theoretical underpinnings that have informed Africa's regional integration trajectory; the political economy of integration; the complexities of integration in a context of weak states; the increasing salience of Africa's relationships with rising extra-regional economic powers like China and India; and comparative lessons from non-African regional blocs. A core argument of this book is that region-building must be recognized as a political project as much as--if not more than--an economic one; successful region-building in Africa will need to include the complex political tasks of strengthening state capacity, resolving long-standing conflicts over resources and political dominance, improving democratic governance, and developing legitimate and inclusive transnational political structures.

Recenzje

"The book is substantial and constitutes a relevant reference point for the pan-African intelligentsia dealing with regionalism. Nineteen renowned authors provide contributions ... . The book holds particular value for readers looking for themes fuelling debates on regionalism in Africa." (Frank Mattheis, South African Journal of International Affairs, August, 2017)

Spis treści

Introduction; Daniel Levine and Dawn Nagar
PART I: THEMES AND CONCEPTS OF REGION-BUILDING AND REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN AFRICA
1. Region-building Debates in a Global Context; Louise Fawcett \
2. Regional Integration in Africa: Theory and Practice; John Ravenhill
3. A Tale of Three Cassandras: Jean Monnet, Raúl Prebisch, and Adebayo Adedeji; Adekeye Adebajo
PART II: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AFRICA'S REGION-BUILDING AND REGIONAL INTEGRATION INITIATIVES
4. Cross-border Interactions and Regionalism; Daniel Bach
5. Infrastructure and Regional Integration in Africa; Afeikhena Jerome and David Nabena
6. African Agency Post-2015: The Roles of Regional Powers and Developmental States in Regional Integration; Timothy M. Shaw
7. The Political Economy of Africa's Region-building and Regional Integration; Samuel K.B. Asante
PART III: THE AFRICAN UNION (AU) AND SUB-REGIONAL ORGANISATIONS AND INITIATIVES
8. The African Union and Region Integration in Africa; Kasaija Phillip Apuuli
9. Region-building in Southern Africa; Scott Taylor
10. Region-building in Eastern Africa; Gilbert M. Khadiagala
11. COMESA and SADC: The Era of Convergence; Dawn Nagar
12. Region-building in West Africa; Said Adejumobi
13. Region-building in Central Africa; René Lemarchand
14. Region-building in North Africa; Azzedine Layachi
PART IV: COMPARATIVE REGIONAL SCHEMES: LESSONS FOR AFRICA
15. Necessary but Not Automatic: How Europe Learned to Integrate; N. Piers Ludlow
16. Lessons from Asia: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations; Mely Caballero-Anthony
17. Lessons from Latin America: MERCOSUR; Laura Goméz-Mera
Conclusion; Daniel Levine

O autorze

Daniel H. Levine is a consultant to the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR), Cape Town, South Africa, and a Research Fellow at the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland, USA.

Dawn Nagar is a Researcher at the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR), Cape Town, South Africa.

Blurb

This landmark book is the first of its kind to assess the challenges of African region-building and regional integration across all five African sub-regions and more than five decades of experience, considering both political and economic aspects. Leading scholars and practitioners come together to analyze a range of entwined topics, including: the theoretical underpinnings that have informed Africa's regional integration trajectory; the political economy of integration, including the sources of different 'waves' of integration in pan-Africanism and the reaction to neo-liberal economic pressures; the complexities of integration in a context of weak states and the informal regionalization that often occurs in 'borderlands'; the increasing salience of Africa's relationships with rising extra-regional economic powers, including China and India; and comparative lessons from non-African regional blocs, including the EU, ASEAN, and the Southern Common Market. A core argument of this book, running through all chapters, is that region-building must be recognized as a political project as much as if not more than an economic one; successful region-building in Africa will need to include the complex political tasks of strengthening state capacity (including states' capacity as 'developmental states' that can actively engage in economic planning), resolving long-standing conflicts over resources and political dominance, improving democratic governance, and developing trans-national political structures that are legitimate and inclusive.