Identity Economics

by Meagher, Kate

• ISBN13: 9781847010162
• ISBN10: 1847010164
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781846157905
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-02-18
• Publisher: James Currey Ltd

Summary

Why have informal enterprise networks failed to promote economic development in Africa? Using Nigerian case studies, this book challenges the prevailing assumption that the problem of African development lies in bad cultural institutions and shows that informal economic governance is shaped by culture and the disruptive effects of rapid liberalization, weak states and political capture.

Author Biography

Kate Meagher is Lecturer at the Development Studies Institute, London School of Economics Political Science

Table of Contents

List of Figures & Tables	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. x
Abbreviations	p. xiv
Introduction: Social Networks & Economic Ungovernance in Africa	p. 1
Beyond the Cultural Turn: Rethinking African Informality	p. 11
Oracles, Secrets Societies & Hometown Identities: An Institutional History of Igbo Economic Networks	p. 27
Unleashing Popular Entrepreneurship: Informal Manufacturing & Economic Restructuring	p. 56
The Scramble for Weak Ties: Restructuring Informal Enterprise	p. 83
Negotiating the Web of Associational Life: Popular Associations& Networking Strategies	p. 105
Collective Efficiency or Cutthroat Cooperation?: Networks of Accumulation & Networks of Survival	p. 121
Informality, Cliental Networks & Vigilantes: Producers' Associations & the State	p. 140
Missing Link or Missed Opportunity?: Social Networks & Economic Development in Africa	p. 164
Epilogue	p. 179
Appendices	p. 181
Bibliography	p. 183
Index	p. 201
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