Capital cities in Africa: power and powerlessness
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2012
TITLE AUTHOR(S): S.Bekker, G.Therborn
KEYWORDS: SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, TOWNS
Web link: https://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/books/capital-cities-in-africa
Intranet: HSRC Library: shelf number 4372
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/6280
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/6280
TITLE AUTHOR(S): S.Bekker, G.Therborn
KEYWORDS: SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, TOWNS
Web link: https://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/books/capital-cities-in-africa
Intranet: HSRC Library: shelf number 4372
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/6280
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/6280
If you would like to obtain a copy of this Research Output, please contact Hanlie Baudin at researchoutputs@hsrc.ac.za.
Abstract
Capital cities today remain central to both nations and states. They host centres of political power, not only national, but in some cases regional and global as well, thus offering major avenues to success, wealth and privilege. For these reasons capitals simultaneously become centres of 'counter-power', locations of high-stakes struggles between the government and the opposition. This volume focuses on capital cities in nine sub-Saharan African countries, and traces how the power vested in them has evolved through different colonial backgrounds, radically different kinds of regimes after independence, waves of popular protest, explosive population growth and in most cases stunted economic development. Starting at the point of national political emancipation, each case study explores the complicated processes of nation-state building through its manifestation in the 'urban geology' of the city - its architecture, iconography, layout and political use of urban space. Although the evolution of each of these cities is different, they share a critical demographic feature: an extraordinarily rapid process of urbanisation that is more politically than economically driven. Overwhelmed by the inevitable challenges resulting from this urban sprawl, the governments seated in most of these capital cities are in effect both powerful - wielding power over their populace - and powerless, lacking power to implement their plans and to provide for their inhabitants. In its concentration on urban forms of multi-layered power, symbolic as well as material, Capital Cities in Africa cuts a new path in the rich field of studies related to African cities and politics. It will be of interest to scholars in a wide range of disciplines, from political history, to sociology, to geography, architecture and urban planning.-
Related Research Outputs:
- The forgotten fifty percent: a review of sexual and reproductive health research and programs focused on boys and young men in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Regional cooperation in Sub-Saharan Africa on school improvement: a comparative study of South Africa, Botswana and the Seychelles
- HIV/AIDS and new agricultural strategies for sub-Saharan Africa
- HIV/AIDS in developing countries: heading towards a mental health and consequent social disaster?
- Urban agglomerations and "city region" formation in South Africa: who are our truly competitive global bets?
- Urban agglomerations and "city region" formation in South Africa: who are our truly competitive global bets?
- Are globally competitive "city regions" developing in South Africa: formulaic aspirations or new imaginations?
- South Africa in Africa: the apartheid regime's foreign policy in sub-Saharan Africa
- Baseline information on poverty in the City of Tshwane
- The evolving spatial form of cities in a globalising world economy: Johannesburg and Sao Paulo
- Design meeting for DFID-funded project: the contribution of post-basic education and training (PBET) to poverty reduction: evidence from South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa
- Community-level behavioural interventions for HIV prevention in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Epidemiology of health and vulnerability among children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa
- Skills development strategies for inclusive and productive cities: phase 1 report
- School psychology in sub-Saharan Africa: results and implications of a six country survey
- Optimizing learning and education in Africa - the language factor: a stock-taking research on mother tongue and bilingual education in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Views on migration in Sub-Saharan Africa: proceedings of an African migration alliance workshop
- Introduction
- Urban performance: indicators and trends
- Skills development strategies for inclusive and productive cities: toolkit