The Postcolonial State in Africa: Fifty Years of Independence, 1960–2010 by Crawford Young (review)

In The Postcolonial State in Africa: Fifty Years of Independence, 1960–2010, Professor Crawford Young combines a wide-ranging research basis and a theoretical foundation to provide contemporary scholarship of the African political economy. Critical questions raised in this book include: to what extent are postcolonial politics in Africa shaped by the legacy of the colonial state? Why are state structures weaker in Africa than elsewhere? What accounts for Africa’s slow political and economic development? There is great variation within Africa in political, economic, and social development.

Young demonstrates the complexities and nuances involved in articulating the journey of the state in Africa. In a preceding volume, The African Colonial State in Comparative Perspective (1994), Young captured the African colonial state in its multiple personality as it has reordered society, political structures, and economic production. He here delineates the consequences of producing an African political landscape with strikingly little change among the state actors but a dramatic transformation in their institutional content and social environment.

As Young outlines in his introduction, the objective of this volume is to examine the political trajectories of the fifty-three African states over the course of the past half-century. This book is therefore both a road map and a holistic review of contemporary territory, operating in an interactive competitive manner. As lauded in blurbs by experts, this book is a thoughtful, comprehensive work, rich in analysis that incorporates the politics of North Africa, a region of the African landscape that many scholars treat as being foreign to Africa’s political economic discussions.

About a half-century ago, mounting agitation for independence forced European colonial powers to grant sovereignty to African states. Acceleration of the pace of decolonization can be attributed to two vectors: first, the astonishing speed with which emergent nationalist leaders mobilized rural populations that had seemed inert, contributing to the popular belief that decolonization was inevitable; second, the enormous cost of containing armed challenges, or even waves of violent protest, and the mounting casualties on both sides. Whether the new states were ready for the task ahead was insignificant.

This book questions postcolonial politics with a focus on the theme of state predicament and its involvement in society and the economy. It is a sophisticated deployment of historical, qualitative, quantitative, and political knowledge, in an area that spans a long professional and research career. It is through the prism of the state that Young composes a portrait of Africa’s political journey. The book is divided into three parts and includes nine chapters. In part one, which comprises two chapters, Young suggests a framework for analyzing the African state; he identifies and highlights commonalities that span the continent, with colonial occupation having a defining effect.

To begin the journey of the African state, there is a need to conceptualize the state and review its diverse interpretations after decolonization. It has always been elusive, but it remained an authoritative actor in the last half-century. The premature evolution of the colonial state to the postcolonial state prevented African nations from gradually consolidating the necessary components of performing developmental state functions. The inability of these countries to master their developmental functions forced many to morph into a one-party state, a military state (as a result of coups d’état), or a hybrid state. Young provides a quick tour of Africa’s recent political history with an examination of critical structures.

Part two comprises four chapters, where Young begins to construct his argument and elaborate on the itineraries followed by the independent African nations. This part seduces the reader with a scholarly review of the history and literature on the state, emphasizing the complexities of its nature and structure. It builds upon the main trends of African politics. It underscores the fact that the state is the lead actor, and the two opposing schools of thought about the state in Africa saw their conceptual vision unravel before them...