African Conflicts and Informal Power Big Men and Networks

In the aftermath of an armed conflict in Africa, the international community both produces and demands from local partners a variety of blueprints on how to reconstruct state and society. The aim is to re-formalize the state after what is viewed as a brief or extended period of fragmentation and informalization caused by armed conflict. In reality, both African economies and politics are very much informal in character, with informal actors (including so-called "Big Men") often using their positions in the formal structure as a means to reach informal goals. Through a variety of in-depth case studies - from DRC to Somali to Liberia among others - this book shows how important informal political and economic networks are in many of the continent's conflict areas. More than this, it demonstrated that without a proper understanding of their impacts in areas such as borderlands and in "narco-states" such as Guinne-Bissau, attempts to "formalize" African states, particularly those emerging from wars, will be in vain.

Matt Utas is Senior Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden.

Introduction - Matt Utas *1. 'The politics of confusion': Mapping violent labour in post-conflict Côte d’Ivoire - Karel Arnaut * 2. Informal political structures, resources and the Ugandan army in the DRC - Koen Vlassenroot and Sandrine Perot * 3. Cocaine connections and developmental disasters in Guinea Bissau - Henrik Vigh * 4. ‘Castles in the sand’: Informal networks and power brokers in the Northern Mali periphery - Morten Böås  * 5. The Governor’s Red Tractors: trade, aid and global shadows in Angola - Carolyn Nordstrom * 6. Liberia’s remaining rebel structures: the use of ex-combatants in informal post-war security settings - Mariam Persson * 7. Big-Man Business in the Borderland: the militarization of politics in Sierra Leone - Maya Christensen * 8. Bullets and Business: War and Implications of Trade in Somalia - Mats Utas and Awes Mio * 9. Soldiers and Traders in War and Peace: The Resilience and Diversity of Conflict Resources - Ruben de Koning * 10. Informal Military Structures and Mid-level Commanders – an African Outlook - Anders Nilsson * 11. Understanding the AU and its Political Culture: ‘Big Men’ and Decision-Making Processes - Kwesi Aning