Domesticating the colonial state as the final phase of the anticolonial struggle: The case of Nigeria and the structural adjustment program
Abstract
According to an editorial in a 1985 issue of the Washington Post, "Africa is in a state of breathtaking crisis whose likes may not have been seen anywhere in the West since the 14th century plague." The crisis is characterized by mass poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, low productivity and life expectancy, and high infant mortality, disease, and instability. This study seeks to explain the root causes of this crisis and the avenues for resolving it. It also seeks to show that structural adjustment programs adopted by various African governments in the wake of the deepening crisis in the 1980s are not designed to eliminate the structural weaknesses of African economies. This study contends that to understand the crisis of African political economy and the ways to resolve it, one must understand the nature of the "state in Africa" and the state's impact on patterns of development. To do so, it proposes a theory of domestication. Specifically, the study argues that Africa, as a formerly colonized society, is inherently incapable of overcoming underdevelopment without the prior and fundamental transformation of the inherited colonial state. This transformation entails a shift from an externally directed to an internally directed state where the structures and processes of governance reflect the cultures, traditions, and values of the people. The study tests its arguments on domestication, along with the contending arguments raised by theorists of the state, modernity and dependency, against patterns of state formation in Nigeria from the late 1800s to the early 1900s and patterns of state involvement in the economy from the 1800s to the adoption of the structural adjustment program following the economic collapse of the 1980s. It examines the patterns of state policies during these periods in order to ascertain the extent to which they influenced expectations, values, and aspirations in the post-colonial order.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Melson, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Political science
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