This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the development and governance nexus in Africa’s Great Lakes region. The Great Lakes region continues to experience many challenges, yet much of the literature continues to focus on political governance, leaving behind the socio-economic aspects of the everyday lives of people in the region. This book seeks to bridge this gap in information, considering the social, economic, and cultural dynamics of the population as they inter-play with political discourse as key factors of sustainable development. Drawing on empirical cases and examples from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda, the book analyses each of the major governance and development issues in Great Lakes region of Africa, including region building and integration, social protection, inter-state relations, democracy and participation, and sustainability. Written by an African scholar with over 20 years of experience of working with indigenous groups in over 34 African countries, this book will be an important read for students and scholars across the fields of international relations, political studies, sustainable development (social and economic), sociology, public policy and management and public administration.

The Great Lakes region of Africa is characterized by protest politics, partial democratization, political illegitimacy and unstable economic growth. Many of the countries that are members of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) which are: Burundi, Angola, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Zambia, have experienced political violence and bloodshed at one time or another. While a few states have been advancing electoral democracy, environmental protection and peaceful state building, the overall intensity of violence in the region has led to civil wars, invasion, genocide, dictatorships, political instability, and underdevelopment. Efforts to establish sustainable peace, meaningful socio-economic development and participatory democracy have not been quite successful. Using various methodologies and paradigms, this book interrogates the complexity of the causes of these conflicts; and examines their impact and implications for socio-economic development of the region. The non-consensual actions related to these conflicts and imperatives of power struggles supported by the agents of savage capitalism have paralysed efforts toward progress. The book therefore recommends new policy frameworks within regionalist lenses and neo-realist politics to bring about sustainable peace in the region.

This book describes and analyzes protracted conflicts in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. In doing so, it emphasizes obstacles to peace rather than root causes of conflict. Case studies are presented from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Northern Kenya, Northern Uganda, Southern Sudan, and Zanzibar. Amongst other conclusions, the book shows that, to settle or transform protracted conflicts, distinction must be made between strategic and nonstrategic actors: the former must be able to prevail upon the latter in the negotiation and implementation of peace agreements. The theme and collection of the research presented in this book is unique in the literature. The case studies all employ methods of othick description, o process tracing (following particular actors and their interests), and in-depth personal interviews. The book will be of interest to academics, researchers, undergraduate and post-graduate students, and professionals in conflict theory, analysis and resolution, African and development studies, political science and international affairs, as well as to mediators, negotiators, and facilitators in conflict resolution

This book looks at how the benefits of economic development in the Great Lakes Region of Africa are not being equally distributed. It studies the impact of the increasing scramble for natural resources upon local livelihoods and considers the ambiguities that characterise the relationship between mining and development.

The nucleus of society is situated at the local level: in the village, the neighborhood, the city district. This is where a community first develops collective rules that are intended to ensure its continued existence. The contributors look at such configurations in geographical areas and time periods that lie outside of the modern Western world with its particular development of society and statehood: in Antiquity and in the Global South of the present. Here states tend to be weak, with obvious challenges and opportunities for local communities. How does governance in this context work? Scholars from various disciplines (Classics, Theology, Political Science, Sociology, Social Anthropology, Human Geography, Sinology) analyze different kinds of local arrangements in case studies, and they do so with a comparative approach. The sixteen papers examine the scope and spatial contingency of forms of self-governance; its legitimization and the collective identity of the groups behind them; the relations to different levels of state governance as well as to other local groups. Overall, this volume makes an interdisciplinary contribution to a better understanding of fundamental elements of local governance and statehood.

This book looks at how digital technologies are revolutionizing electoral campaigns and democratization struggles in Africa. Digital technologies are giving voice and civic agency to a cross section of African voters, providing important spaces for political engagement and debate. Drawing on cases from Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe amongst others, this book traces the shifts and tensions in this changing electoral communications landscape. In doing so, the book explores themes such as hate speech and disinformation, decolonisation, surveillance, internet shutdowns, influencers, bots, algorithms, and election observation, and looks beyond Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and YouTube to the increasingly important role of visual platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Particularly highlighting the contribution of African scholars, this book is an important guide for researchers across the fields of African politics, media studies, and electoral studies, as well as to professionals and policymakers in political communication.

This book provides a detailed account of the political economy around investment deal negotiations between African governments and private Chinese investors. The book draws on evidence from experiments and hundreds of interviews with policy makers and Chinese investors across Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania. It shows that governments of authoritarian or one-party dominant states, which are among the top-receivers of Chinese investments, are able to easily and successfully act collectively to impose human capital and technology transfer requirements. The book argues that, rather than treating African countries as "price-takers" in the face of increasing Chinese influence in the continent, we should instead recognise the significant bargaining leverage that many African governments have to influence deal conditions, especially with smaller private Chinese companies. It demonstrates that several African governments can instead act "as price-setters" and that the success of the rising Chinese presence in Africa, and whether this leads to positive or negative development outcomes, fundamentally depends on the development strategies that individual African governments decide on. In the context of an often-polarised debate, the original research presented in this book has important implications for the future economic development strategies of African countries. As such, it will be of interest to researchers working on Chinese and African investment, politics, institutions, business, economics, and international relations.