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Sabaratnam, Meera (2017) Decolonising Intervention: International Statebuilding in Mozambique. London: Rowman and Littlefield. (Kilombo: Colonial Questions and International Relations)

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Abstract

Building, or re-building, states after war or crisis is a contentious process. But why? This book argues that to best answer the question, we need to engage with the people who are supposedly benefiting from international ‘expertise’. This book challenges and enhances standard ‘critical’ narratives of statebuilding by exploring the historical experiences and interpretive frameworks of the people targeted by intervention. Drawing on face-to-face interviews, archival research, policy reviews and in-country participant-observations carried out over several years, the book challenges assumptions underpinning external interventions, such as the incapacity of ‘local’ agents to govern and the necessity of ‘liberal’ values in demanding better governance. The analysis focuses on Mozambique, long hailed as one of international donors’ great success stories, but whose peaceful, prosperous, democratic future now hangs in the balance. Its conclusions underscore the significance of thinking with rather than for the targets of state-building assistance, and appreciating the historical and material conditions which underpin these reform efforts.

Item Type: Authored Books
SOAS Departments & Centres: Departments and Subunits > Department of Politics & International Studies
Legacy Departments > Faculty of Law and Social Sciences > Department of Politics and International Studies
Subjects: J Political Science > JZ International relations
ISBN: 9781783482764
Copyright Statement: © 2017 by Meera Sabaratnam. This is the published version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Date Deposited: 30 Jun 2017 14:18
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/24281
Related URLs: https://rowman. ... g-in-Mozambique (Publisher URL)
Funders: Economic and Social Research Council

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