Violence and the Formation of States : The Case of Northern Nigeria, 1900-1966

ISBN-13: 9783639123326 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 272 str.

Mohammad Kuna

Opis

This book examines the role of violence in the formation of postcolonial states with specific reference to northern Nigeria. It argues that the deployment of violence was in part a response to the contestations over the form of the emergent postcolonial state, the ultimate contest being that over peasant production. The specific form this state assumed depended on four interrelated social forces: pre-colonial hegemonic structures, emergent nationalist discourses/ organizations, state activity, and the collective struggles of peasants. By analysing the dynamic relationships between these forces, the book explored the processes and patterns through which conflicts over conceptions and practices of the ''nation,'' ''membership,'' and identity became inscribed in the definition, character and form of the postcolonial state in Nigeria. This book is an important contribution to African historiography and a useful addition to the understanding of the struggles over discourses and practices of ''nationhood.'' It will be a useful reading for students of politics and society in Africa and beyond.

O autorze

Mohammad J. Kuna, PhD, is a Political Sociologist at the Usmanu
Danfodiyo University, Sokoto-Nigeria. Fulbright Scholar, Senior
Lecturer, former Dean of Social Sciences (UDU, Sokoto) and Dean,
Postgraduate School, Gombe State University, Gombe, Kuna is well
published on violence,the postcolonial state and identity
politics in Nigeria.