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The Problem of Violence - Local Conflict Settlement in Contemporary Africa (Topics in Interdisciplinary African Studies, vol. 21)
The Problem of Violence Local Conflict Settlement in Contemporary Africa - Topics in Interdisciplinary African Studies, vol. 21 Author:Alice Bellagamba, Joshua B. Forrest, Mamadú Jao, Reinhart Kössler, Maria Paula Meneses, Petr SkalnÃk, Abdoul Aziz Sow, Trutz von Trotha Violence and weakness seem to be dominant features of state rule in Guinea-Bissau; this holds true for the whole period of state presence, since the beginning of colonial rule at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century up to the present day. The political history of independent Guinea-Bissau is likewise marked by violence and state weakness. P... more »eriods of latent crisis within the country's political and military elites tend to lead to violent conflict, ending in change of government, mostly through military coups. Although Guinea-Bissau's political struggle appears to be largely limited to the country's elite, it affects the population, too, causing at times the loss of numerous civilian lives. The violent character of the state is hardly softened by state services and economic support for the population. On the contrary, seen from the people's perspective, the state is mostly "absent". It is in this context of an "authoritarian and absent state" that a conference on Violence and Non-State Local Conflict Management in West Africa and Beyond took place in Bissau in early December 2008. [...]« less