The Scarce State
Author | : Noah L. Nathan |
Publisher | : Cambridge University Press |
Total Pages | : 375 |
Release | : 2023-02-28 |
ISBN-10 | : 9781009261142 |
ISBN-13 | : 1009261142 |
Rating | : 4/5 (42 Downloads) |
Download or read book The Scarce State written by Noah L. Nathan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2023-02-28 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: States are often minimally present in the rural periphery. Yet a limited presence does not mean a limited impact. Isolated state actions in regions where the state is otherwise scarce can have outsize, long-lasting effects on society. The Scarce State reframes our understanding of the political economy of hinterlands through a multi-method study of Northern Ghana alongside shadow cases from other world regions. Drawing on a historical natural experiment, the book shows how the contemporary economic and political elite emerged in Ghana's hinterland, linking interventions by an ostensibly weak state to new socio-economic inequality and grassroots efforts to reimagine traditional institutions. The book demonstrates how these state-generated societal changes reshaped access to political power, producing dynastic politics, clientelism, and violence. The Scarce State challenges common claims about state-building and state weakness, provides new evidence on the historical origins of inequality, and reconsiders the mechanisms linking historical institutions to contemporary politics.