State of Rebellion

Shortlisted for the Fage and Oliver Prize 2018

In 2013, the Central African Republic was engulfed by violence. In the face of the rapid spread of the conflict, journalists, politicians, and academics alike have struggled to account for its origins.

In this first comprehensive account of the country's recent upheaval, Louisa Lombard shows the limits of the superficial explanations offered thus far - that the violence has been due to a religious divide, or politicians' manipulations, or profiteering. Instead, she shows that conflict has long been useful to Central African politics, a tendency that has been exacerbated by the international community's method of engagement with so-called fragile states. Furthermore, changing this state of affairs will require rethinking the relationships of all those present - rebel groups and politicians, as well as international interveners and diplomats.

State of Rebellion is an urgent insight into this little-understood country and the problems with peacebuilding more broadly.

Autorentext

Louisa Lombard is an assistant professor of anthropology at Yale University. Previously she held a Ciriacy-Wantrup postdoctoral fellowship in natural resource economics at the University of California at Berkeley. She has published widely on politics and conflict in Central Africa. In addition to her academic research, she has worked in the Central African Republic as a field consultant to several international organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Small Arms Survey, Refugees International, and the World Bank. Her previous books include Making Sense of the Central African Republic, co-edited with Tatiana Carayannis (Zed Books, 2015).

Zusammenfassung
Shortlisted for the Fage and Oliver Prize 2018In 2013, the Central African Republic was engulfed by violence. In the face of the rapid spread of the conflict, journalists, politicians, and academics alike have struggled to account for its origins.In this first comprehensive account of the country's recent upheaval, Louisa Lombard shows the limits of the superficial explanations offered thus far that the violence has been due to a religious divide, or politicians' manipulations, or profiteering. Instead, she shows that conflict has long been useful to Central African politics, a tendency that has been exacerbated by the international community's method of engagement with so-called fragile states. Furthermore, changing this state of affairs will require rethinking the relationships of all those present rebel groups and politicians, as well as international interveners and diplomats.State of Rebellion is an urgent insight into this little-understood country and the problems with peacebuilding more broadly.

Inhalt

Introduction

1. Conflict and the State in the Peace-Kept World
2. The Nativeness of 'Foreign' Violence
3. Mobility as Power
4. Long and Short Histories of Rebellion
5. DDR and the Frustration of Desires for Entitlement
6. War as the Violence of the Pack
7. World Champion of Peacekeeping
   Conclusion