Navigating Governance, Peace, and Conflict in Africa

This edited book examines the link between peace or violent conflict and the practice of governance in African states. Exploring the historical roots of today's African challenges, the chapters explore the sources of legitimacy in African states and help to clarify how a strengthened social contract can be built in societies facing the fact or threat of conflict. The volume includes a variety of case study examples to illustrate the performance of states on topics such as including women, youth and civil society, on coping with the challenge of extremism, on respecting the potential contributions of traditional authorities, and on delivering key governance outputs such as the rule of law and delivering essential services. Some chapters explore the trajectory of conflict management initiatives led from within Africa by regional and sub-regional bodies, while others give greater attention to the role of outside actors. While there have been numerous studies on conflict in Africa as well as on the impact of bad governance on specific countries, there have been few that have made the link between governance and conflict as it manifests across the continent. By exploring these issues in depth, this book sets an agenda for further research in the fields of conflict resolution, politics and governance. This book will be of much interest to students and practitioners of conflict management, African politics, global governance and International Relations.