An Uncertain Transition: Security, Violence, and Neopatrimonialism in the Central African Republic

Vlavonou, Gino

doi:10.3917/rtm.228.0121

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 14 publications

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“…With the notable exception of Khisa and Day, who study how practices such as begging impact discipline in the barracks, the aforementioned body of work has generally focused on how the military affects society (Agyekum 2021). This study, which focuses on a specific section within Ghanaian society-political actors who seek to influence the military-also positions itself within the well-established literature on clientelism (Kitschelt & Wilkinson 2007;Hyden 2016;Ravanilla, Haim & Hilken 2022;Miscoiu & Kakdeu 2021), and (neo)patrimonialism (Clapham 1985;Bratton & van de Walle 1999;van de Walle 2007;Vlavonou 2016;Glawion & de Vries 2018;Duursma 2022;Oostrom & Gukurume 2022). Hence, it examines how political actors in Ghana seek to influence dynamics within the barracks, not only through patronage exchanges-politically motivated distribution of favors to an individual or institution from which the patron aims to gain support and loyalty-but also through negotiations with military leaders.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“We Are not into Politics, but Politics Is into Us”: The Politicization of the Ghana Armed Forces Through Patronage Exchanges between Political Elites and Military Leaders

Agyekum¹

2023

Afr. Stud. Rev.

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Throughout Ghana’s political history, soldiers have inspired socio-political change. Based on fieldwork with the Ghanaian military, this article contributes to literature on militaries and civil-military relations in Africa. Agyekum analyzes how the politicization of the military impacts dynamics within the barracks, while highlighting how the country’s political class endeavors to diminish the armed forces’ societal and political influence as a way to gain control over the institution through patronage exchanges. Since the early 2000s, the elite’s strategy entices individual soldiers as well as the whole institution through the politicization of promotions and appointments, recruitment, better service conditions, and infrastructural projects in the barracks.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“We Are not into Politics, but Politics Is into Us”: The Politicization of the Ghana Armed Forces Through Patronage Exchanges between Political Elites and Military Leaders

Agyekum¹

2023

Afr. Stud. Rev.

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Radical Autochthony? Proprietary Political Discourse Among Elites and Peasants in the Anti-Balaka Armed Movement in the Central African Republic

Lombard,

Vlavonou

2023

Afr. Stud. Rev.

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Since at least the colonial era, the Central African Republic (CAR) has been a hotbed of rural rebellion and protest. This article explores the political discourses of members of the Anti-Balaka, a diffuse protest movement and armed rebellion, comparing discourses to see how they vary in relation to demographic categories: urban and rural, elites and peasants. Lombard and Vlavonou find that rural peasants demand a moral economy of interpersonal respect, while elite (usually urban) adherents claim inclusion in a system of official recognition and patronage. Both are concerned with respect, but what is radical about the vision of the peasants is that they can enact it on their own.

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Negotiating Positionality as a Student and Researcher in Africa: Understanding How Seniority and Race Mediate Elite Interviews in African Social Contexts

Vlavonou

2022

International Studies Review

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This article takes a reflexive look at the dilemmas and challenges of accessing a predominantly male circle of political and nongovernmental elites in the Central African Republic from the perspective of a young Black African male student researcher. It focuses on questions of positionality, arguing that certain African social norms regarding seniority and hierarchy can affect data generation, specifically access and interactions within interviews. The article argues that the author's identities as a student and researcher complicated access to male and senior elite interviewees during field research, thus illustrating anew how diasporic Africans might experience the field research exercise differently even if accessing elites is generally a difficult exercise. This article contributes to understanding power differentials among interviewers, including differences among students and researchers, and the influence of race during fieldwork by African scholars. This is within an emerging literature on fieldwork that focuses on graduate students in International Relations and Comparative Politics.

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An Uncertain Transition: Security, Violence, and Neopatrimonialism in the Central African Republic

Cited by 4 publications

References 14 publications

“We Are not into Politics, but Politics Is into Us”: The Politicization of the Ghana Armed Forces Through Patronage Exchanges between Political Elites and Military Leaders

“We Are not into Politics, but Politics Is into Us”: The Politicization of the Ghana Armed Forces Through Patronage Exchanges between Political Elites and Military Leaders

Radical Autochthony? Proprietary Political Discourse Among Elites and Peasants in the Anti-Balaka Armed Movement in the Central African Republic

Negotiating Positionality as a Student and Researcher in Africa: Understanding How Seniority and Race Mediate Elite Interviews in African Social Contexts

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