Ethics and Power in Sudanic Africa

December 1, 2009

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The second part of my review of Patrick Chabal, Africa: The Politics of Suffering and Smiling, is posted at African Arguments. In this, I try to trace some of the key features of rule by the Sudanic kingdoms, arguing that they present a special case of patronage/clientelism, which both vindicates and elaborates Chabal’s thesis, and that this is of interest not only to historians, but to contemporary policy as well.

Alex de Waal

Alex de Waal is Research Professor and Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation at The Fletcher School, Tufts University. He was the founding editor of the African Arguments book series. He is the author of The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa: Money, War and the Business of Power.