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Strauss, Julia and Cruise O'Brien, Donal, eds. (2007) Staging Politics: Power and Performance in Asia and Africa. London: I.B. Tauris. (International library of political studies, v. 18)

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Abstract

This fresh and original study analyses how power presents itself in dramatic performance in these two increasingly economically and politically important continents. Emotion and politics play a hugely important role in the politics of Asia and Africa but, as this book sets out, too much of Western political research into the subject concentrates on apparent deficiencies - on the weakness of institutions, defects in the bureaucracy or markets, poor management of elections, absent judicial autonomy. Viewing political performance through Western eyes in this way - where politics is primarily about the naked pursuit of power and interests - can lead to a misunderstanding of how politics actually works in Africa and Asia, where process plays a far more important role. Thus performance, drama and emotion are far more integral to political outcome there than in the West. By concentrating on this new perspective the authors, each a recognised specialist in one or more states in Asia and Africa, avoid this trap and offer a coherent picture of the impact political performance has on the culture and politics of these societies and how they function.

Item Type: Edited Book or Journal Volume
SOAS Departments & Centres: Legacy Departments > Faculty of Law and Social Sciences > Department of Politics and International Studies
ISBN: 9781845113674
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.5040/9780755620272
Date Deposited: 06 Dec 2010 10:32
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/9694

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