State of Rebellion: Violence and Intervention in the Central African Republic

by Louisa Lombard, Alcinda Honwana (Editor), International African Institute (Editor), Royal African Society (Editor), World Peace Foundation (Editor)

Overview

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, jourbanalists, 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783608843
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	12/15/2016
Series:	African Arguments
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

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).
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).

Table of Contents

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

Editorial Reviews

A must-read for comparativists and IR scholars interested in peacebuilding, the state, and African politics, as well as for policy makers involved with these issues in the CAR and beyond.'” —African Affairs

“In this stimulating and provocative book, Louisa Lombard proposes a new approach to peace-keeping, peace enforcement and humanitarian action that rests upon a politics of redistribution and acknowledgement of the social dignity of fighters lacking a state.” —Jean-François Bayart, Graduate Institute Geneva

“With a stunning combination of conceptual clarity and vivid ethnography, Louisa Lombard's book challenges conventional wisdom on the roots of violence in the CAR. A must-read for anyone wanting to engage with current debates on peace-building and state-building initiatives.” —Marielle Debos, author of Living by the Gun in Chad

“Brilliant ... Provides a magisterial reading of the role of violence in the making of the CAR. Authoritative, nuanced, and empirically rich, Lombard offers a new and compelling lens through which so-called state failure and post-conflict transitions can be understood.” —Michael Watts, University of California, Berkeley (Emeritus)

“This valuable, indeed important, study helps us make sense of a little-known but strategically important African country. Those who wish to know Africa today need to know this book.” —Paul Richards, author of No Peace, No War: An Anthropology of Contemporary Armed Conflicts

“If you want to understand why the CAR seems a perpetual work in regress, then Louisa Lombard's book is a must read. Her new perspectives illuminate a neglected recess of globalization.” —Stephen W. Smith, Duke University

From the Publisher

“If you want to understand why the CAR seems a perpetual work in regress, then Lombard’s book is a must-read. Her new perspectives illuminate a neglected recess of globalization.

Stephen W. Smith

“Provides a magisterial reading of the role of violence in the making of the CAR. Authoritative, nuanced, and empirically rich, Lombard offers a new and compelling lens through which so-called state failure and post-conflict transitions can be understood.

Michael Watts

“This valuable, indeed important, study helps us make sense of a little-known but strategically important African country. Those who wish to know Africa today need to know this book.

Paul Richards

“With a stunning combination of conceptual clarity and vivid ethnography, Louisa Lombard’s book challenges conventional wisdom on the roots of violence in the CAR. A must-read for anyone wanting to engage with current debates on peace-building and state-building initiatives.

Marielle Debos

“In this stimulating and provocative book, Lombard proposes a new approach to peacekeeping, peace enforcement, and humanitarian action that rests upon a politics of redistribution and acknowledgement of the social dignity of fighters lacking a state.

Jean-François Bayart

“A must-read for comparativists and IR scholars interested in peacebuilding, the state, and African politics, as well as for policy makers involved with these issues in the CAR and beyond.

African Affairs

“Provides an in-depth discussion of the interventions that occur in response to moments of war and inter-war. Lombard’s book speaks to a broad audience while analyzing the forms of violence in Central African Republic (CAR) and the forms of intervention that have emerged in response.

Anthropological Quarterly