The State and Maritime Nationalism in Côte d'Ivoire

1994 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-245
Author(s):  
Okechukwu C. Iheduru

Oneof the intriguing paradoxes of Côte d'Ivoire is that while the political class has become famous for its ‘open-door’ capitalism, the Government headed by Félix Houphouët-Boigny consistently heightened its rhetoric of ‘Ivoirianisation’ through which it purported to indigenise the economy. The fact is that capitalism controlled by foreigners has generally gained the upper hand with state connivance or approval. Where local capitalism exists, it is often spearheaded by the state as participant and competitor, rather than as a facilitator of indigenous enterprise. Shipping offers a good example of this dual approach, where the state became the vanguard of a vigorous national and regional drive for maritime independence, but at the same time pursued its self-declared ‘open-door’ strategy which ensured continued domination of the sector by foreigners.

2018 ◽  
pp. 75-88
Author(s):  
Lyubov Sadovskaya

The article presents a new view on the problems of political stability in West African countries. For the first time was carried out a comparative analysis of the sustainability of the political systems of the two Francophone fastest growing countries in West Africa, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. The author analyzes the factors negatively influencing political stability social order, and those that reduce conflict potencial in these States. Internal and external threats to the political systems of Senegal and Сôte d’Ivoire are examined. The response of both countries to internal and external challenges is shown. The study proves that while external threats indanger Senegal’s political stability, such as the penetration of religious extremism, the crisis in Casamance, maritime piracy, drug traffic, for Côte d’Ivoire, on the contrary, main risks are internal: electoral, socio-political crises, the split of elites, arms smuggling, banditry. The study demonstrates that the level of social governance in Senegal is higher than in other West African countries, including Сôte d’Ivoire, due to the dualism of the political system: the coexistence of Western-style political institutions with local faiths (tariqas), as well as policy pursued by President M. Sall. aimed at achieving mutual compromise that ensure the peaceful settlement of conflicts and contradictions. The author concludes that a new approach to the development of a security strategy is required.


Author(s):  
Charles T. Hunt

This chapter examines the international response to Côte d’Ivoire’s post-election crisis in 2010/11. In particular, it analyses the elements that relate to the responsibility to protect (R2P), including how R2P informed the political and practical responses to the crisis. It identifies the major contentions/issues that the case highlights about the nature and future of R2P. It argues that despite the relative inattention paid to this case in the academic literature to date, the experience of Côte d’Ivoire offers important insights into the opportunities and challenges associated with all three pillars of R2P and recalls debates around the responsibility to rebuild as well as the emergent relationship between the R2P framework and protection of civilians in United Nations peace operations.


Africa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armando Cutolo

ABSTRACTIn the mid-1990s, Côte d'Ivoire witnessed the rise of the ideology of ivoirité, a conception of citizenship based on autochthonous origins. Ivoirité was elaborated by a group of Ivorian intellectuals in the context of the political struggle opposing Henry Konan Bedié to Alassane Ouattara in the succession to the late President Houphouët-Boigny. Through the tactical use of the rhetoric of ivoirité, Ouattara was depicted by his adversaries as a ‘Burkinabé’ trying to rule the country. Going beyond this tactical aspect, the article addresses the ideological relations linking ivoirité to the ‘project of an Ivorian liberal society’ explicitly constructed by the same intellectuals. These relations contributed to the emergence, in the Ivorian public space, of a discourse establishing self-evident, hegemonic connections between notions like autochthony, modernity and nationality, on the one hand, and biopolitical concepts like population, immigration, security and resources on the other. The article uses two complementary perspectives to frame this emergent discourse. One focuses on the historical continuity of the political-economic strategies and population policies implemented by colonial governments and post-colonial elites. The other uses Giorgio Agamben's critical enquiry into citizenship and nationality to bring to light the implication of the ivoirité intellectuals in the construction of a national bios, and thus in the singling out of a paradigmatic form of bare life.


Author(s):  
Frederick Cooper

This chapter explores different instances of African claim making. It first looks at the effort of the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (RDA) in the Sudan and especially the Côte d'Ivoire to build up its political apparatus across the territory and the efforts of the government to combat what it saw as a countergovernment. The chapter then turns to ways in which African political leaders sought to change the very terms in which future politics was discussed—to rethink the meaning of nation and sovereignty. They were thinking about different levels of political belonging and political action. And as France entered into discussion of creating a European community, they were thinking of expanding the idea of a “Franco-African” political ensemble into something even wider, into “Eurafrica.”


2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. McCauley ◽  
Daniel N. Posner

Under what conditions does religion become a salient social identity? By measuring religious attachment among the people living astride the Burkina Faso–Côte d’Ivoire border in West Africa, an arbitrary boundary that exposes otherwise similar individuals to different political contexts, this article makes a case for the importance of the political environment in affecting the weight that people attach to their religious identities. After ruling out explanations rooted in the proportion of different religious denominations, the degree of secularization and the supply of religious institutions on either side of the border, as well as differences in the degree of religious pluralism at the national level, it highlights the greater exposure of Ivorian respondents to the politicization of religion during Côte d’Ivoire’s recent civil conflict. Methodologically, the study demonstrates the power – and challenges – of exploiting Africa’s arbitrary borders as a source of causal leverage.


1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dwayne Woods

This article first explores the manner in which the colonial and postcolonial state in Côte d'Ivoire has sought to develop and animate rural cooperatives as a means of effecting change in the countryside. It then examines the local realities that the state has encountered in its attempt to organise and control rural cooperatives. In particular, the article shows how ethnicity, age, and contrasting economic interests have undermined state efforts to create sustainable and effective rural cooperatives at the village level. Finally, the article looks at how structural adjustment has led to the retreat of the state and the emergence of a more pluralistic environment in which different rural associations are now competing to represent the interests of rural producers.


2007 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magali Chelpi-Den Hamer

Following political turmoil and rising socio-economic difficulties, Côte d'Ivoire has been split into two since September 2002. The rebellion controls the northern part of the country and the main towns of Bouaké, Korhogo and Man, while the government controls the southern part with Abidjan, Yamoussoukro, Daloa and all the ports in the coastal area. At the beginning of the war, civil servants who were in place in the north of the country were called back to Abidjan to be redeployed in government-controlled areas. These included many teachers and education officials, but not all, as some of them chose to stay in the war-affected areas to continue their initial work. This article focuses specifically on governmental and local non-governmental initiatives related to education which were put in place at the onset of the crisis. What type(s) of education have been offered to the children in war-affected areas and to the displaced children in government-controlled areas? What have been the difficulties of organizing national examinations in war-affected areas? How have educational attainments been certified on both sides? The study covers the period 2002–06, and is based on document analysis, grey literature collected on site and interviews with key informants.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
N'guessan Simon Andon ◽  
Kouadio Augustin Alla ◽  
Kouacou Jean-Marie Atta

The evolution of tropical forest deforestation in Côte d'Ivoire is very alarming. From 16 million hectares in 1900, the area increased to 9 million hectares in 1965 to less than 2.5 million hectares in 2016. Even forests protected by the State of Côte d'Ivoire are not spared while peri-urban protected forests are the most exposed. The finding reveals many shortcomings in the state monopoly of protected area management. Yet, elsewhere in Africa, many experiences of participatory management have shown significant advances in protection and their introduction in Côte d'Ivoire from 1990. To understand the effectiveness of this new consultation framework adopted as a management tool, national policies and locally adopted strategies on the Mount Korhogo classified forest in northern Côte d'Ivoire have been analyzed. Results show a failure of participation at the national level since 1996 and a lack of participation at the local level. Despite the establishment of a local committee for forest defense and fight against bush fires, the lack of consultation undermines the proper functioning of this organization, thus leading to the exacerbation of deforestation. Mount Korhogo Classified Forest.Keywords: participatory management, consultation framework, protected forest, urbanization, deforestation


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